005 - Inside Iraq’s $20 Billion West Qurna 2: Lessons from a Global Mega Project with Tarun Gohel

What does it take to build one of the world’s largest oil & gas greenfields? ⛽️

Project Controls leader Tarun Gohel takes us behind the scenes of the $20B West Qurna 2 Project, a massive upstream program spanning Iraq, Dubai, South Korea, Italy, and beyond.

In this episode of The Major Project Podcast, Orion speaks with Tarun Gohel—a project controls and planning leader whose career spans India, Kazakhstan, Ghana, Dubai, and now the U.S. Tarun pulls back the curtain on one of the largest oil and gas greenfield developments on the planet: the $20 billion West Qurna 2 Project in Iraq.

Tarun shares how he went from piping designer to senior project controls leader on mega programs across the globe—and what ultimately convinced him to join the UAE team executing West Qurna 2. He explains the scale of the program: 150+ wells, massive upstream processing facilities, gathering systems, export infrastructure, a 200–300 MW power plant, and global fabrication yards coordinated across Dubai, Iraq, Russia, Italy, South Korea, and more.

From planning to risk to culture, Tarun outlines the three pillars of mega-project success—a disciplined plan, the right people, and a healthy multicultural team culture. He walks through their approach to project controls audits, work breakdown structures, contract strategy, and performance incentives, including why owners need to incentivize contractors—not just penalize them.

They also dive deep into risk management, defining realistic triggers, and how to spot real schedule delays when contractors’ schedules stay “green” long after reality turns red. Tarun shares hard-won lessons from presenting to executive leadership and even the Iraqi Minister of Oil, including how to simplify complexity and tailor messaging for high-stakes rooms.

From global execution models to AI's emerging role in project controls, this episode is packed with practical, experience-based insights for anyone managing major capital projects.

🎧 You’ll Learn

• What makes West Qurna 2 one of the world’s most complex and expensive greenfield projects

• The three pillars Tarun uses to evaluate mega-project success: planning, culture, and people

• How early planning, work breakdown structures, and contract alignment shape project outcomes

• Why incentives—not penalties—drive better performance in large-scale contracting

• How to run effective project controls audits across global hubs (Dubai → Italy → South Korea)

• Approaches to defining, quantifying, and triggering risk actions before it’s too late

• How to present complex project data to ministers, executives, and senior stakeholders

• Early-career advice for those entering project controls—and why curiosity is the real superpower