From The Star – Fuel subsidy scheme shelved

March 2, 2010

Man, I predicted this would be shelved 6 days into the scheme. I guess the proper people didn’t buy in (or buy off) into the scheme. Or is it a case of binary (flip-flip) government (Sorry, been watching the Big Bang Theory).

Dateline 2010-02-25, from The Star:

PETALING JAYA: The Government’s proposed fuel subsidy scheme based on the engine capacity of vehicles has apparently been shelved.

Sources indicate that the plan, which was originally set to be implemented on May 1, will not proceed even though a lot of the preparatory work has entered the final stage.

“We were so close to getting this off the ground,’’ said a source.

The Government had planned to introduce a tiered pricing system for petrol, depending on engine capacity, while foreigners would have to pay the market price.

You can subscribe to an online version of the paper at the Bluehyppo site, follow links to e-browse.

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Saturday Star 2010-02-27 – Job Opportunities

March 1, 2010

Another week, another scan of the Saturday Star newspaper. Here’s a list of job ads in the paper:

  • Dialog Group is looking for a whole mess of engineers. Send an email here or snail mail to Human Resources Department, Dialog Group of Companies, 109, Block G, Phileo Damansara 1, No. 9, Jalan 16/11, 46350.
  • Hey, Awan Inspirasi is looking for a HR Manager. Send an email here or snail mail to Recruitment Section, HR Department, 11th Floor, Menara Perak, 24 Jalan Perak, 50450 Kuala Lumpur.
  • Sabic has an advert.  The Ibn Zahr site is looking for a MTBE & Utility Operator, Control Sys Eng, Process Eng. You can apply via email here or here. Or key in your resumes online here. I believe this is the second time they are looking for people, the first one being a walk-in interview session in March. You asked for too much, people! Or they are looking for, what do you call it. ‘investment-efficient resources.’

I had food last Wed at Carigali Hess’s Cakerawala Platform. Catering was provided by my old acquaintances, Alfa Meli, though their website doesn’t say they do catering. Image rebranding?

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From the NST – Explosion at Labuan PETRONAS plant

February 28, 2010

Taken from the NST, dateline 2010-02-22:

LABUAN: There was a large explosion at the Petronas Methanol Labuan (PML)’s S1001 controlled natural gas Flare Tip that caused operations at the RM511 million methanol plant to cease today. Eighty-two PML contract workers and 46 of its staff were working there when the explosion occurred at 11.37 am but no one was hurt.

Two fire engines from the Labuan Fire and Rescue Service and the PML rescue unit rushed to the scene and controlled the situation within 30 minutes.

Speaking at a news conference, PML production chief, Mohd Kamis Abdul Manap, said a detailed investigation will be conducted to determine the cause of the explosion.

“We will conduct a comprehensive investigation before operations can continue. We will identify if there was weakness in the safety aspect,” said Mohd Kamis

Offhand, I would say failure of the Permit to Work System, opening up the process, air ingress into the vent, improper molecular seal vent, too low design pressure of the vent…

Wow, and I’m making all this up from the news clip above. Synergy would be most pleased in leading the 3rd party safety inspection. You know where we are.

You can subscribe to an online version of the paper at the Bluehyppo site, follow links to e-browse.

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When is an AND Gate an OR Gate? When you DTS

February 27, 2010

Here’s an interesting tidbit I picked up during my FS course in Bangkok.

There are two building blocks used in logic  programming:

And logic associated with these is:

Input Output
A B A AND B
0 0 0
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 1

And

Input Output
A B A OR B
0 0 0
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 1

 

Now, think in terms of ‘energised’ as Boolean value 1, and ‘non-energised’ as Boolean value 0, then go through the logic of a “de-energise to safe” (DTS) system. Assuming that A and B are sensing elements of a one out of two (1oo2) voting system, then if A or B trip (de-energise), the logic output of an AND gate is 0, i.e. non-energised.

Hence, an AND gate acts as an OR gate in a DTS system. And an OR gate acts like an AND gate.

And Synergy can give you more from where that came from

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ConocoPhillips exec dies in Alaska avalanche

February 25, 2010

Before I start, lets put things into perspective:

From the 2008 annual report, E&P Production:

  • Alaska contribution – 15%, 244kbd
  • Asia Pacific contribution -12%, 91 kbd

From Reuters:

ANCHORAGE, Feb 14 (Reuters) – The president of ConocoPhillips Alaska was killed in an avalanche and a colleague who was part of his snowmobiling party was missing and presumed dead, Alaska State Troopers told Reuters.

The body of Jim Bowles was recovered near Spencer Glacier by rescue workers around lunchtime on Saturday, trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters told Reuters late on Saturday.

“Bowles was pulled from the avalanche debris and CPR was given for about 30 minutes before they stopped the effort,” Peters said.

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The SOGE Story – Synergy MECIP Team

February 24, 2010

There was a MOGEC/MOGSC Intercompany Futsal Tournament last Saturday. Below are some shots I took.

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IEM Shout Out – Welding Requirements for Pressure Vessels

February 23, 2010

This is a shout out for the IEM. My Technical Division will hosting a course on the 2nd and 3rd March, 2010. You’ll get to visit TNB’s Intergrated Learning Solution – ILSAS at Bangi in additiion to getting 13 CPD points.

The course provides basic knowledge and understanding of design requirements to engineers in selecting proper welding technology for pressure vessel manufacturing and structural design. In the course participants will gain basic understanding of the following: –

  1. welding symbols in accordance to AWS A 2.4 and BS EN 22553 (ISO 2553)
  2. behaviour of welded structures under different types of loading
  3. factors affecting fatigue and types of fractures failure
  4. design principles for static pressure vessels and aluminum structures

The Presenter, Ian Partridge, is Principal Project Leader, Equipment Risk Consulting, Structural Integrity Technology Group, TWI. He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and Member of the UK Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE), Admitted to the Int. Register of Prof. Eng (IntPE).

Flyers for the above and other events may be obtained here.

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Saturday Star 2010-02-20 – Job Opportunities

February 22, 2010

Annnd… there’s nothing for engineers this week. Belated happy holidays, everyone. And looking forward to this weekend as well.

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Saturday Star 2010-02-13 – Job Opportunities

February 15, 2010

I was browsing through the Reporter online lately, and out of curiosity, I looked up the lecture schedules of NatSci and ChemEng. Lo and behold, the timetable (and in some cases the lecturer) has not changed since I last stepped into the halls in 1995.

  • Petrofac is looking for a flowlines & sub-sea cables delivery manager, FPSO Marine System Eng (Chendor’s FPSO I believe), Lead QA Eng and a Process Engr. Contact them here.
  • And there’s another Petrofac ad, for a Drilling Eng, Completion Eng, Snr Well Test Eng, Drilling Fluid Advisor.
  • Hmm, Zee Engineering is looking for Pipeline Eng and Struc Eng for Indonesia. Contact them here or here.
  • OPR is looking for a Software Eng and Pipeline Eng. Snail mail to OPR Pipeline & Riser Sdn Bhd, A-5-6, Megan Avenue 1, 189 Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 KL.

No food places this week. Anyone want to suggest a menu and place in Penang?

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The SOGE Story – Visit to Brunei

February 12, 2010

Synergy was invited to visit Brunei through a few aquaintances that we met. Since it was the first time to that country, I was snapping photos of anything that didn’t move.

4 Comments | business opportunity, engineering, oil and gas | Tagged: | Permalink
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