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Over 23 years of my experience as a technical translator and interpreter I have been involved in a large number of various projects, such as field seismic data acquisition, regional and local geological studies, exploration and development well drilling including offshore wells, oil and gas production, oil treatment and gas processing facilities construction, drilling and production equipment engineering, manufacturing and operation, EOR methods implemented on brown fields, pipeline planning and construction, translation of the industry related publications, etc.


Please review below some details about my major projects:


In 1992-1993 I participated as an interpreter and translator in site visits, due diligence, legal and technical negotiations resulted in setting up of TengizChevroil JV in Kazakhstan by Chevron. High sulfur content, extreme formation pressures, and limited capacity of the sulfur and mercaptans treatment facility were among several main challenges faced by the JV.


In 1996 I was working in structure set up by Agip and British Gas to develop giant Karachaganak gas and condensate field in north-western part of Kazakhstan. After the collapse of the Soviet Union the government of Kazakhstan suspended development of the field due to lack of financing and a large number of wells in the field abandoned due to various downhole problems. The consortium of Agip and BG contracted a joint venture between Saipem and Nabors Drilling to actively implement a program aimed at reviving most of the abandoned wells through various workover activities. My responsibilities as a field interpreter and translator included verbal translation of the technical meetings, rig site visits with BG and Agip company men, written translation of daily reports from rigs, workover programs, development of drilling and fishing tools inventory lists in Russian and English, etc.


In the second half of 1996 I was providing interpreting and translation services to Exxon's team that was finalizing a PSA agreement between the RF's government and a consortium that included Exxon and SODECO (Japan) for the Sakhalin-1 project (later joined by ONGC Videsh Ltd. from India, and Russia's Sakhalinmorneftegaz-Shelf and RN-Astra) to develop Chaivo, Odoptu and Arkutun-Dagi oil and gas fields in north-east offshore Sakhalin Island.


In 1997 and 1998 I was actively involved as a verbal and written translation services vendor to British Petroleum in the company's pursuit of exploration and production projects in Russia, including the Sakhalin-4 and Kovykta. Made over 10 trips to Sakhalin and visited Irkutsk region several times with groups of geologists, geophysicists, petroleum and drilling engineers, as well as legal experts from BP to discuss the details of the planned projects with Russian partners.


My translation and interpreting activity for Marathon Oil included working in the Moscow representative office of Sakhalin Energy in 1997 and 1998, where I actively participated in translation of large volumes of documentation for the environment expertise of the project by the government agency, as well as for the TEO of Construction. In 2003, 2004 and 2005 I spent several moths in the field in Khanty-Mansiisk region working as translator and interpreter for KMNGG (Marathon's subsidiary in Russian Federation sold to LUKoil in 2006). My translation and interpreting activity there included verbal translation during technical meetings with drilling contractors, drilling sites visits, drilling equipment inspections, advanced directional drilling training classes for KMNGG's drilling supervisors, written translation of drilling programs, rig equipment upgrade plans, daily drilling reports, etc.


In late 1998 and early 1999 I provided technical translation and interpreting services to Shell's exploration and production division in Russia that was checking the opportunity to explore and develop Vancor oil and gas field.


My other major projects included:


LUKoil's Astra (Khazoil-1, ex-Marawah) jack-up rig upgrade for deepwater operation in the Caspian Sea (1998-1999). Project management by Aker Rauma Offshore. Location: Astrakhan, Russia



Fabrication and Delivery of Drilling Module for D-6 Ice Resistant Platform in Kravtsovskoye Field in the Baltic Sea for LUKoil. (2001-2003)Contractor: HRI Location: New Iberia, LA, USA; Kaliningrad, Russia



PennWell Publishing House published the book "Advanced Drilling Solutions: Lessons from the FSU" by Yakov A. Gelfgat, Michail Ya. Gelfgat and Yuri S. Lopatin, which I translated from Russian into English.



Quote from the Acknowledgments page: "The authors express their great appreciation for Boris Volkovoy's efforts in finding solutions for difficult - to - translate technical text".



Fabrication of 650-ton Derrick for the Parker Drilling/Exxon Platform for Arkutun-Dagi Field Development Under Sakhalin 1. Project Management and Engineering by Loadmaster Universal Rigs, Inc. Location: Kaliningrad, Russia



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