Blue Ocean Strategy in Malaysian O&G?

June 29, 2008

I was introduced to the ‘blue ocean’ strategy on the 25th, when the IEM arranged a visit to PETRONAS’s Prince Court Hospital. The strategy involves you choosing a market where there are no competitors (swimming alone in the ocean blue, get it?).

All of the oil and gas businesses of note I know swim in red oceans, where we fight and cut and tear at each other.

In the oil and gas industry, you can start out with a niche market (ex. high end process consultancy, HAZOP leadership, good engineering when your competitors are rubbish) which you hope you have no competition, but when you want to play with the big boys, you have to go head-to-head. If you are successful, you create a blue ocean for yourself by buying up (or bumping off)  your rivals.

So, you can go blue ocean – red ocean -> blue ocean. If you don’t see that cycle, you’re doing it wrong, at least in Malaysian territorial waters.

3 Comments | business opportunity, engineering, Malaysia, oil and gas | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Wata

Fuel Saving Tips – Commentary

June 26, 2008

There’s this email being circulated touting the best way to fill up your car. You know the one, giving advice such as:

“ONLY BUY OR FILL UP YOUR CAR OR BIKKIE IN THE EARLY MORNING WHEN THE GROUND TEMPERATURE IS STILL COLD.”

I would suggest you visit snopes.com, and read their take on these tips. In response to the above, their comment is that fuel is stored in underground tanks, which act as giant thermos bottles. This, coupled with the the observation that below-ground temperatures don’t change much during the course of a day, leads me to conclude that there is no need to join the dawn patrol when planning when to fill up your car.

From an engineering standpoint, here are other things to think about:

  • The flow of fuel from the storage tank to the car should be sheltered from the sun so that fuel isn’t heated as it travels, and produces vapour (and less liquid) at the nozzle.
  • If the fuel goes into the underground tank hot (midday fuel delivery?) then it will probably stay hot no matter what time of day you fill up.
  • You might want to ensure your car fuel tank isn’t hot so as to vapourise fuel as soon as it comes in. Is this a reason to pay the premium for covered parking?

I’d agree with snopes’ conclusion:

“…The bottom line is that there are much easier and better ways of improving the efficiency of your car (and thus of saving you money at the pump) than the tips outlined above. Particularly important is proper maintenance, including engine tune-ups, wheel alignments, tire pressure checks, and filter replacement…”

If there were any tips to follow, follow the ones on being a more efficient driver.

 

3 Comments | engineering, oil and gas | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Wata

100th entry

June 24, 2008

To fill space out, I’d like to highlight that this is the 100th entry to my blog. Statistics-wise:

  • Total views: 5,500+
  • Comments: a few (there’s no summary number in my admin pages).

Thank you all for your support and interest. Give me a buzz if you want to see topics elaborated here.

4 Comments | engineering | Permalink
Posted by Wata

Saturday Star 08-06-21 – Job Opportunities

June 23, 2008

Another week, another scan of the Saturday Star newspaper. This time, I’m trying out the ebrowse feature provided by BlueHyppo (will he ever manage to balik kampung?). Note that you need to have admin rights to run it in beloved Windows XP (they don’t tell you that on their help page). And McAfee detected a buffer overflow in Vista.

Here’s a list of job ads in the paper:

  • PETRONAS has a nice colourful advert for engineers. Looks like GTS is looking for a few good people. I understand that they have a really good training program, seeing that one of my colleagues left the private sector to join them.
  • QP is looking people. Actually, it’s looking for people times 3 (there are 3 adverts in the paper). You can visit the QP website. Did I tell you that QP’s SWB (salary, wages, benefits) package is something to be sneezed at?

Happy hunting. Let me have some feedback if you find this list useful. Even better, spread the news. PayPal donations welcome.

1 Comment | engineering | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Wata

The Kerteh Subang Commute

June 22, 2008

Did you know that if you were Petronas or EMEPMI staff, you can take advantage of a chartered flight between Subang and Kerteh? It shaves off hours from the usual KLIA-Kuantan-Kerteh route. It leaves Kerteh at 7:00, leaves Subang at 8:30. The afternoon flight leaves Kerteh at 4:30, and leaves Subang at 6:00. As a former colleague of mine says, it’s travelling during gentleman hours.

No inflight movie, and no refreshments. The reading material is a bit thin, something about exits. Did I mention that 2 people sit abreast? You do get a personel safety briefing by the flight captain.

A commercial flight used to travel between Kerteh and Subang, Pelangi Air. Rumour has it that it went down due to mismanagement.

 So, a business opportunity. Maybe work with Awana Genting for packages, and promote Pulau Tenggol. Actually, don’t promote Tenggol, I want to keep the diving crowd to the ‘need to know’ basis.

4 Comments | engineering, Malaysia, oil and gas | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Wata

IEM – Future Online Plans

June 21, 2008

I received this email back from the IEM:

“Dear Engr. Razmahwata,

Thank you for your email of April 2 regarding the above and my apologies for the belated reply. IEM will be setting up its own blog site in the near future and any issues that may concern the Institution and the engineering fraternity can then be posted and discussed there. We appreciate your interest and support given to the institution.

Best rgds,

KM Cheang,

Executive Director”

 

2 Comments | engineering, Malaysia | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Wata

Prof DY Peng – Audio of Plenary Presentation, iCon / VMGSim Int Conf KL

June 20, 2008

I have uploaded the audio of the Plenary Presentation give by  Professor DY Peng at the conference held from the 17th to 19th of June, 2008, at the Le Meridian KL, Malaysia.

Part I
Part II

 

I’m still trying to figure out how to deliver the video…

1 Comment | engineering, Malaysia | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Wata

A Living Legend – Prof Peng

June 19, 2008

Petronas Group Technology Solutions (GTS to friends) and VMG SEA organised the iCON/VMGSim International User Conference 2008, from 17-19 June 2008 at the Le Meridian Hotel.

The Plenary Lecture was delivered by Prof D. Y. Peng, University of Saskatchewan.

That’s Peng of the Peng-Robinson equation fame, people! If there every was a ChemEng rock star, he’s the man. Though, he would be a more genteel version of Mick Jagger, rather than Justin ‘Wardrobe Failure’ Timberlake.

 I am honoured that he was willing to ‘mencemar duli’ by taking photos with me. Photos below, along with other rock stars. I recorded the talk, but even at Divx:) compression, it’s 400+MB (blame taking videos with a Canon S5IS). I’ll figure out how to post it later.

 

 

6 Comments | engineering | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Wata

Pre-Owned Equipment Market?

June 17, 2008

If you scan through the TCE, you notice that there is a second hand equipment market in the chemical industry. How come there’s no such market for the Malaysian oil and gas industry? We have had assets that have been transferred wholesale from foreign operators to PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB), and not without a lot of grumble as to the shoddy state of them. You don’t hear of dealers flying to platforms, and purchasing equipment by the lot (note: please don’t try to reuse pressure gauges. Wellhead christmas trees should be good, though. And don’t think about reusing a 10-year old DCS).

I believe IPC tried to do that, purchasing off the shelf (read: second hand / already fabricated) equipment to develop acerage off Semenanjung Malaysia, but that was the only attempt I heard.

What could be stopping the market? Maybe:

  • Cheaper to fabricate then to import. Knowing our tax structure, and concerns about Malaysia being a dumping ground (customs: “You want to import WHAT?”). Not to mention loss of local jobs.
  • No ready source of second hand equipment for O&G purposes. Most of the old oil platforms have been transferred to PCSB, though there are some that have been decommissioned (one’s an artificial reef at the Kenyalang dive site off Miri). Mobile Production Units (MOPUs) are designed to be reused, though the key word is ‘designed’. I guess their paper trail is centred around such use.
  • Too difficult to recertify equipment? How do you recert pressure vessels? Do you need the original fabrication drawings, procedures and certificates, or do 100% non destructive testing, and pressure test the dang thing?
  • Insurance companies not willing to cover the costs.
  • Just not cool enough for companies whose revenue dwarfs GDP of countries.

 

 

2 Comments | diving, engineering, Malaysia, oil and gas | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Wata

Saturday Star 08-06-14 – Job Opportunities

June 16, 2008

Another week, another scan of the Saturday Star newspaper. This time, I’m trying out the ebrowse feature provided by BlueHyppo (will he ever manage to balik kampung?). Note that you need to have admin rights to run it in beloved Windows XP (they don’t tell you that on their help page). And McAfee detected a buffer overflow in Vista.

Here’s a list of job ads in the paper:

  • Saudi Kayan is looking for specialists and engineers. Closing date is 30th June 2008. CVs to be submitted here.

Happy hunting. Let me have some feedback if you find this list useful. Even better, spread the news. PayPal donations welcome.

2 Comments | engineering | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Wata

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