Engineer, Oil and Gas Expert
By Ater Yuot Riak Amogpai
Eng. Paul Adong was born in Panyang Township of Ruweng Administrative Area on May 17, 1975. Eng. Adong was the third child to Bith Deng Arop. Eng. Adong is survived by his Mother, Nyibol Minyiel Bol Achuil. Eng. Paul Adong’s Father, Bith Deng Arop, had a second wife, Alek Nyok Deng. No children between them.
Eng. Paul briefly looked after his family cattle at around Lake Jaw County in the northern part of Ruweng Administrative Area. In the face of interminable raids and destruction of his village and the surrounding villages in the early 1980s by Arab militia, then known as Murahaleen, there was en mass migrations of Ruweng communities to northern Sudan, especially Khartoum. It is against this backdrop that Eng. Adong and his family left for northern Sudan in 1984. The family first settled in El-kenana in today’s White Nile State where young Adong started his elementary education in 1986. The family would later move to Khartoum where he continued his education at Comboni College, Khartoum Bahri.
Eng. Adong sat and excelled in his Sudan Primary Education Certificate examinations at Comboni College-Khartoum. He subsequently got a scholarship to Comboni Secondary School although he later moved to St. Augustin where he would subsequently join the prestigious St. Augustin Secondary School, Khartoum. He sat for his Sudan Secondary Education Certificate examination in 1997 and emerged as one of the top performers in the country. He briefly joined Engineering School of the University of Juba in Khartoum where he was the top of his class in the first two years that he spent at the University of Juba. While he was still an engineering student at the University of Juba, he received a generous scholarship to the University of Technology PETRONAS (UTP) in Malaysia to study Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and graduated in 2002. After working for six years in Malaysia and Oman until 2009, Eng. Adong, got a scholarship to study for his Master of Science in Oil & Gas Management at the University of Aberdeen in the United Kingdom where he graduated in 2010.
During his postgraduate studies in the UK, Eng. Adong’s yearned to return home to serve his country. He was well known for being ambitious, patriotic, and obsessed with all things about oil and gas. He dreamed of transforming oil and gas industry and seeing all South Sudanese in the top rank at different levels in the industry. This ambition saw him return home immediately.
Eng. Adong became a household name in South Sudan following his appointment as the Managing Director of South Sudan’s national oil and gas corporation, the Nile Petroleum Corporation (Nilepet). In this position, Eng. Adong sought to materialize his ambition of using his engineering skills to produce commodities and ensure that South Sudanese engineers were employed and running the oil and gas industry. To translate this idea into practical programs, Eng. Adong worked in close coordination with the Ministry of Petroleum, relevant institutions of government and foreign partners. This could come to pass if he embarked on capacity development of South Sudanese nationals in all segments of oil and gas industry. For instance, while serving as the Vice President of Dar Petroleum Operating Company (DPOC) in 2016, he facilitated the contracting of one of the leading international oil & gas companies, Schlumberger, to train and develop capacities of local oil and gas experts, as well as to identify training needs and gaps of the South Sudanese oil and gas professionals.
The following snapshot provides the chronology of Eng. Adong’s professional career.
· 2016-
2022: CEO of Adong Petroleum Co. Ltd: This was his own
company
· 2017-2022:
Technical Advisor in the Ministry of Petroleum
· 2016- 2017:
Vice President of Dar Petroleum Operating Company (DPOC)
· 2012- 2015:
Managing Director of Nile Petroleum Corporation (Nilepet)
·
2009-2012: Senior consultant
for oil and gas business development for JOSPONG Group of companies in charge
of construction of oil facilities in Western Region of Ghana
· 2006-2007:
Artificial Lift-Engineering Specialist in Oman with Schlumberger Oilfield
Services
· 2004- 2006:
General Field Engineer for AL and Sales in Schlumberger for Blocks 1, 2 & 4
GNPOC Sudan
·
2004-2005: Location Manager for Paloch and Adar in
Schlumberger
·
2003- 2004: Senior
Field Engineer for AL system in Schlumberger for Blocks 1, 2 &4 and 3 &
7 in the Sudan-GNPOC and PDOC
· 2002-2003: Operation Engineer for offshore platform in South China Sea- PETRONAS, Malaysia.
As shown in the above snapshot, Eng. Paul Adong served in several positions in the oil and gas industry in the Sudan, South Sudan, Malaysia, Oman, and Ghana. After his last position as the Vice President of Dar Petroleum Operating Company (DPOC) which he led between 2016 and 2017, Eng. Adong established his own company, the Adong Petroleum Co. Ltd in 2016, under which he assumed the position of being both the CEO and Chairperson of the company, until his last moments.
From his time as a student at the University of Juba and as a professional engineer, Eng. Paul Adong was a member of the following professional and political affiliations:
·
University of Juba Students’ Association (UJSA)
·
South Sudanese Engineering Society (SSES)
·
South Sudanese Engineering Council (SSEC)
·
South Sudanese Engineering and Architectural
Society (SSEAS)
·
African National Front (ANF)
·
Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM)
· University of Juba’s Mathematics Association (UJMA).
Late Eng. Paul Adong Bith Deng was a well-known family man. He deeply cared about his family and the larger society. He was married to Sarah Kuol Tong, from Abyei and with whom he has sons, namely Athiei (6 years old) and Deng (2 years old). Eng. Paul Adong died in Dubai on 18th June, 2022 allegedly after a short illness and, was laid to rest at hometown in Ruweng in June 30th, 2022.
The Author Ater Yuot R. Amogpai can be reached through Email: ater.amogpai@gmail.com.
