INTERVIEW WITH PROF. DR. YASSER MOSTAFA

INTERVIEW WITH PROF. DR. YASSER MOSTAFA

Director of the Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute (EPRI)

1. Good Evening, Dr. Yasser, thank you for having us here. Firstly, as anyone may ask, what actually is the “Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute” and what are its goals and vision?

Certainly, the Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute is a governmental entity subsidiary of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and its CEO is the Minister of Petroleum. “EPRI” was established in 1974, so we are talking about more than 40 years of experience. Our aim is to serve the petroleum sector and provide it with studies, consultations and innovative solutions. Speaking of innovation, we have applied the concept of innovation in “EPRI” as part of the Egyptian Vision for 2030: “A Creative, Innovative Community”. This can be seen through setting the Institute up with the latest models of unique instruments and establishing a balance between both the academic and practical aims of the Institute.

2. What are the key past achievements of EPRI? And what are your upcoming projects?

As a remarkable part of the nation’s industrial and educational system, we have recently been interested in Knowledge Transfer Technology (KTT). As for past accomplishments, we have participated in most of the recent national projects, like providing training for laboratory personnel from ENI, providing analysis results for the Egyptian subway lines’ soil, also we have been providing PVT and core analysis services for the whole Egyptian petroleum sector for many years until now.

Moreover, we have offered extensive workshops for African professionals. This was a start for more future cooperation on the African scale, and we are turning our focus to more protocols and partnerships on the Arabian scale as well.

3- Who is Dr. Yasser Mostafa? Please tell us about your journey and how you became EPRI Director.

I graduated in 1985 from Chemistry department at the faculty of Science, Cairo University. After graduation, I worked first at Al-Nasr Company for Pharmaceutical Industries for six months, then started my career at EPRI in 1986 as an Analysis and Evaluation Specialist. My enthusiasm for scientific research, and for chemistry as I might say, has been with me since high school. It has driven me to specialize in chemistry in the first place, and to continue my path afterwards to receive my master’s degree and then the PhD. I was lucky to have exceptionally supportive supervisors, whose efforts I still appreciate to this day. The course of my life completely changed after travelling for a workshop in Germany for 10 months, may I say they felt like 10 Years!

After coming back, I was chosen to be in the team working at the new central laboratory. Positions followed one after another, until the 24th of July 2019 when I was assigned as the Director of the Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute. I always say that titles are just words on paper, we are all here to work for our nation’s benefit without regard to names or positions.

4- How do you see the future of the petroleum industry in Egypt?

As we can all witness in Zohr field operations, you will notice that we are moving forward. With blessings of God and through the outstanding efforts from national and foreign personnel, we have become one of the exporting (not importing) countries in terms of gas production. This is definitely a promising step towards a better future for the industry in Egypt.

Another point I would like to talk about is maximizing the added value. We do not want to keep producing and selling raw materials, just to buy its final products. This has become a recent focus of the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC), which began to handle produced oil and gas and turn them into more valuable products, again maximizing the added value for our market. This is also the current direction for the petrochemicals industry, which will witness a significant upgrade in the coming days.

According to the vision of H.E., the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, it is not enough that we export natural gas (which is an excellent leverage itself), we need to make the most use of our resources, by transforming each pound we can make by selling natural gas into ten or twenty pounds through producing more complex, valuable products. This itself can provide a remarkable rise in our economy, through increasing our production, combating unemployment, and providing more opportunities for our youth. Even if this can bear some cost, we are the winners eventually, as we will turn into a productive community and reach self-sufficiency.

5- How can students participate in fulfilling the Institute’s vision?

At the beginning, it works the other way around. We cooperate with the students to support them in fulfilling their message until graduation. Our role as a scientific facility is to train, qualify, and provide the updated knowledge to students, through providing consultations and internships in our labs, and assist them with all technical matters. When undergraduates realize the level and quality of our operations, we secure a brand for the institute among young professionals. This leads to graduates developing a connection to the institute and becoming supporters of its values.

We always long for the validation of our efforts through international verified certificates and providing internship opportunities. This leads to the audience related to the industry hearing about EPRI and its services. Here, we maintain a balance between the quality and quantity of published papers, which is not an easy task, after years of pursuing only the quality side, which led to relative incompetence between staff members before. It is a fact that competition forces an upgrade in technical and personal values, which in general leads to a rise in Egypt’s rank in the scientific field.

6- What is your opinion on the student activities in the Egyptian universities, specially EAGE Suez?

Of course, I am glad of the presence and efforts of such activities. We, as an entity, cannot keep a close eye on young audience of the universities. What gives me comfort is hearing about any events organized by student activities, specially EAGE. When I heard about your recent achievements and events, I realized how you let the students achieve a state of commitment, diligence and responsibility. Your efforts in spreading scientific and cultural awareness is indeed an important step on the path of realizing our shared vision of Egypt 2030.

It is critical that we all speak one language, through words or actions, so you offer us a great help through your targets and visions. You also organize conferences, which leads to an increase in the quality of the technical content presented to students, and an upgrade in their mindset regarding presentation and personal skills. It has become a fact that language, personal skills and engagement with industry are three core means for reaching the optimal shape of the Egyptian youth who will lead the nation to its promised destination.