Petro Chisale is never in one place for too long -- he goes where his electrical and instrumentation expertise is required. He graduated from the Engineering Institute of Technology (EIT) with an Advanced Diploma of Electrical and Instrumentation (E&I) Engineering for Oil and Gas Facilities.
After high school, Petro attended Masvingo Polytechnic in Masvingo, Zimbabwe to do an electrical power engineering course. After he obtained his qualification, he became a class one journeyman electrician with an industrial attachment at the then Rio Tinto Renco Mine.
He later joined the National Oil Company as an electrician at the Beitbridge Oil Depot on the South Africa-Zimbabwe border. From there, he went into Harare to work as an assistant electrical technician before moving back to the border as a maintenance technician.
Currently, Petro is working at another oil terminal in Mutare on the border with Mozambique as a tank farm operator.
Every day he coordinates the receipts, storage, loading and transfer functions of quality cleared petroleum products. He produces all of the relevant reports for the management of the terminal. He also supervises assistant tank operators. The daily responsibilities of his roles include:
- Receiving products by road, rail and pipeline
- Plan for and clear petroleum products for loading in advance
- Monitor local and inter-depot transfers of petroleum products
- Accounting for all petroleum products
- Maintaining quality of the product in storage tanks
- Coordinating the suck back and spillage recovery programmes
- Tank farm security
- Supervision of subordinates
It sounds like quite a bit of work for one man to do, but Petro says the combination of interfacing with technology and field work is what he likes about the job. He said:
“I started my job at a remote oil terminal where there were no institutions to help improve myself through studying. I also found myself being transferred to different stations where I could not enroll or engage with conventional college setups. So, when I started online training, I discovered it was the best fit in my situation. As I moved from one oil terminal to the other, I would meet new technologies which coincidentally would be part of the program I studied.”
The fact that there is always something new to learn in the industry and to see new technologies getting implemented in it gives Petro the motivation he needs to keep going. He has already applied for the Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering with EIT.
We wish Petro all the very best in his challenging career and as he studies towards his Bachelor’s degree.