A new year and a new-look for Shell’s QGC business
The three blue letters, QGC, are a familiar sight around the Western Downs. Soon this will start to look a bit different. From now on, you’ll increasingly see the iconic yellow and red Shell logo sitting side by side with the blue QGC lettering on our new uniforms, on our cars, around our buildings and on QGC’s Facebook page.
Why are we doing this?
QGC is part of Shell Australia. Shell is very proud of the work being done at QGC to supply Australians and overseas customers with natural gas. So it’s only natural we want our people who work at QGC to look and feel part of the Shell Australia family.
Given that the towns in the Western Downs are community hubs where our people work, live, and spend time with their family and friends, we thought you might like to get to know some of our employees.
Take our Operation Maintenance Co-ordinator on Curtis Island, Alex Leitch. He arrived Down Under from Glasgow, Scotland in 1980, just two years before his son was born. Alex has a depth of experience, knowledge and advice about the industry.
“My first job when I came to Australia was working with McDermott in the Bass Strait,” he says. This facility is a rig in the middle of the ocean that separates Victoria and Tasmania, known for its treacherous seas and cold conditions.
Since then, Alex has enjoyed different roles around the country, from Karratha in WA, to Geelong in Victoria and to where he is now, based in Gladstone, Queensland.
Given the breadth of his career leadership roles, Alex upholds three key values: comply, intervene and respect.
“Comply with all the rules and regulations. Intervene and stop the job if you think something is not right. Lastly, respect the culture.”
In May 2018, Alex faced the task of overseeing the scheduled maintenance and warranty work on the complex equipment that makes up one of two LNG trains on Curtis Island. This is a highly coordinated and logistically challenging effort, where everyone needs to be diligent and respect the process, whilst also ensuring there is minimal impact to production.
“These were three key messages, which led to a safe and successful conclusion,” Alex said.
Outside of work, to help unwind Alex enjoys teeing off.
“I play golf. Lots of it. I recently played golf with my brothers in Portugal. The Algarve coastal scenery was great.”
A great way to start a career
Now that the Shell’s QGC business is well established, it provides a great opportunity for young people to enter the industry. Still in the early stages of her career, Steph Lye, Maintenance, Reliability and Turnarounds Engineer on Curtis Island started her graduate position with the company eight months ago.
“One of the main focuses at the moment is getting as much exposure I can to different sorts of roles, to help me get a more well-rounded experience as an engineer,” she says.
“I think it’s good that Shell’s QGC business provides these sorts of opportunities – people seem very open to giving graduates exposure to different areas.
“It’s also nice that Shell has opportunities outside of Australia and at different sites within Australia.”
Steph has already experienced some travel as a part of her role, having participated in the Shell Life program in Kuala Lumpur, a personal and career development course for Shell graduates, as well as technical training in the Brisbane office.
However, her travel journey within the company truly began when she made the 3,400-kilometre move from Western Australia to Queensland to join Shell as a graduate.
When off the island, Steph enjoys doing outdoor activities that the Gladstone culture and landscape has to offer, such as camping and going to the beach.
“We’ve got a good of group of people with four-wheel-drives, so it makes it a lot easier to do these activities.”
Reflecting on her time with Shell’s QGC so far, Steph says Curtis Island is a very interesting place to work.
“You’ve always got something keeping you on your toes and it’s been a really good environment as well – people always help you out.
“People around the office are really welcoming and as a female in the industry this is something that you notice.”
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