Hans-Joachim Polk took over as managing director for Hamburg-based RWE Dea AG’s UK subsidiary in August. Polk, a 22-year veteran of the German exploration company, began his career in 1991 as a production operations engineer. He eventually became head of operations for production for Germany’s largest offshore oilfield, Mittelplate, which is located off the country’s northern coast. He has also previously served as senior vice president, field development for RWE Dea.
Image Caption: Jarand Rystad, the head of consultancy Rystad Energy, and Hans-Joachim Polk, Managing Director of RWE Dea UK. (Photo: RWE Dea AG)
Polk said he has had a rich experience with the company. “[RWE Dea] has offered me a variety of interesting positions, countries and projects, where I could perfectly develop my technical as well as leadership skills,” he said. “The acquaintance with so many enthusiastic RWE Dea people in different locations and cultures has spiced up my business life in addition and kept me motivated all the time.”
RWE has taken Polk to company outposts in Egypt, spending three and a half years in Cairo. He later transferred to Norway, where he most recently served as managing director of RWE Dea Norge. Hugo Sandal, who previously ran the company from 1995 to 2011, succeeded Polk at RWE Dea Norge in June. Despite obvious differences in running businesses in foreign lands, Polk says one thing stays the same: RWE’s people.
“One outstanding similarity is the motivated and experienced staff that we fortunately have got in all our OPCO’s,” Polk said. “The culture is definitely different, but with the open mind-set, which I have seen in Egypt as well as Norway, it was always possible to build bridges respectively fruitful relations. Hence, I hope my experience from my previous assignments will help me to succeed here in UK.”
Polk listed the startup of the RWE-operated Breagh field (70%) as one of his top priorities for the short-term. RWE Dea UK announced in mid-October that the field was brought online, with three wells producing an initial flow rate of 2.75 MMcm/d of natural gas. Total reserves of the Breagh field are estimated at approximately 19.8 Bcm. The Breagh gas field is located in Blocks 42/13a and 42/12a in the UK sector of the Southern North Sea, about 65km off the coast of north east England where water depths are approximately 60m.
Following the Breagh’s startup, Polk says he’s excited to launch and further develop the Breagh Phase II project, as well as take lessons learned from RWE’s successful production in the Clipper South field and utilize that knowledge on on other tight gas reservoirs.
Image Caption: RWE’s Breagh field went into production in mid-October. (Photo: RWE Dea AG)
In addition to production goals, Polk says he intends to further develop RWE’s HSEQ standards. “I see RWE Dea’s safety culture and its efforts to achieve safety goals at a high industry level,” he says.
Polk said RWE’s safety culture focuses on awareness and behavior, with staff encouraged to share observations and make proposals.
“Concerning our operations in the UK, I’m proud to see the excellent safety performance in our projects as well as drilling operations, which speaks for a well-functioning safety culture. I’ll do my best to continue this positive trend and support my people to develop our safety culture even further,” he says. OE
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