Malaysia faces oil and gas ‘brain drain’

March 22, 2013

As if zombies eating our brains wasn’t scary enough…

Dateline Bangkok Post Ides of March:

Malaysian oil and gas workers are being lured away from home by foreign companies, leading to a shortage of skilled labour, according to the deputy director-general of the country’s Manpower department.

 

A Petroliam Nasional Bhd. (PETRONAS) gas station stands in front of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on March 5.

Malaysia is facing a “brain” drain in the oil and gas industry as local workers are lured away by higher salaries abroad, according to the deputy director-general of its Manpower department. (Bloomberg photo)

 

Multinational oil and gas firms based in Singapore and the Middle East are attracting Malaysian workers with higher salaries, Syed Mohamad Noor Syed Mat Ali told The Star.

He added that foreign countries were reaping the benefits of Malaysia’s efforts to train locals, who subsequently left to work abroad.

“There is nothing much that Malaysia can do to stop highly skilled locals in the O&G sector from working in other countries,” said Mr Mohamad Noor.

3 Comments | engineering, investment, Malaysia, oil and gas | Tagged: | Permalink
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Safety Alert – Drowning Fatality

March 19, 2013

Finally, I glimpse a typed out statement of this incident, which means the info is in the public domain. I believe this was related to an asset associated with the letters BUG, offshore Peninsular Malaysia. Curious this never hit the local news, must be slack reporting by our local newhounds, or was there something more sinister in the works?

To quote:

On 13th Sept 2012 an Operations Technician working at a normally unmanned satellite platform in Malaysia drowned when he fell overboard. The victim was the PIC at the site where drinking water bunkering to the platform from a supporting boat was in progress.

The hose from the platform to the boat had been slug over a saddle attached to the platform main handrail. The vessel lost station when its bow thruster tripped.

The Injured Personnel fell 23m into the water when the handrail he was holding failed due to tension applied to it through the loading hose.

The IP was conscious in the water for 10-15 minutes during which efforts to rescue him were unsuccessful. Attempts to throw life rings to the IP from the platform were also unsuccessful.

Emergency response procedures were quickly implemented including dispatching an additional nearby vessel. The IP was recovered but showed no signs of life. The IP was transferred to shore and confirmed to be a fatality due to drowning.

1 Comment | engineering, Malaysia, oil and gas | Tagged: , , | Permalink
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IEM Shout Out – Full-Day HAZOP Training For Team Members – A Practical Approach

March 19, 2013

The Young Engineers  will be hosting a 1 day seminar on the 26th March, 2013. It is worth 6 CPD points, and held at Wisma IEM. Since I’m giving it, I expect hoards will have to be turned away at the gates.

A Hazard and Operability study is a formal and systematic and detailed examination of the process and engineering intentions of new or existing facilities which assesses the hazard potential and effects on the facility as a whole when operation is outside of the design envelope, or individual items of equipment malfunction.

This course is designed to educate participants in the HAZOP process from the perspective of a HAZOP team member. It is meant to provide both instruction and workshop sessions so that the participants:

  • Are familiar with the concept of ‘risk’
  • Are familiar with the theory behind HAZOP
  • Are familiar with the actual HAZOP workshop process
  • Have expectations as to what the HAZOP will (and won’t provide)
  • Understand what deliverables can be expected from a HAZOP
  • Have the opportunity to participate in HAZOP exercise in a safe environment
  • Opportunity to share HAZOP experiences

At the end of the session, the participants should:

  • Understand the responsibilities of all parties in the HAZOP
  • Have experience in a HAZOP session.
  • Understand the outcomes from a HAZOP session

Wata has 17 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, in both design and operations.

Register here, or download the form here.

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Posted by Wata

Election Time!

March 18, 2013

Yes, it’s time for the 2013 IEM Elections. Up for grabs are vacancies for the Vice Presidents positions (4 of them) for 2 sessions. Get your ballots in by the Friday, 5 April, 2013.

I think I’ll throw down my vote with those I see often at the BEM (those who are often there, but I don’t see, my apologies). Let the next 2 years theme be, “Symbios Govermentus (whomever it may be).”

In alphabetical order,

  • Ir. Gopal Narian Kutty
  • Ir. Mohd Aman Hj. Idris
  • Ir. PE Chong
  • Ir. Prof. Ishak Abdul Rahman

Leave a Comment » | engineering, Malaysia, Malaysian election | Tagged: | Permalink
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Saturday Star 2013-03-16 – Job Opportunities

March 18, 2013

Buy my recommendations, or through my Amazon store. Where are those corporate sponsors? Or throw donations at me. I need money to purchase a dive light.

If you need my help to submit your CVs, donate to the blog, and I’ll review your CV to see if it is worthy of my (and my associates’) expectations. If you can’t figure out how to donate, no need to ask.

This week, it looks like you (the advertisers) are recycling last weeks adverts. Since it’s a holiday today (Monday), I guess you are justified

  • I’m looking for a senior process engineer, 7+ years experience. Send your cv here. Also looking for process safety persons, lead piping designer, lead instrument engineer, and other seniors you think will catch my eye.
  • Murphy is looking for a senior area engineer, snr project eng, snr development engineer, snr structural eng, snr mechanical eng, snr field engineer (you see a trend here?), mech engineer, construction eng,  . Send your cv here.

How about some local food? Alisara at Puchong Indah. Specialises in Thai food, and has mango with stick rice.

Break the Low Yat stranglehold! Support Newegg Malaysia.

Here’s a switch, a fiction novel combining diving, welding, oil & gas and family.

  

The Underwater Welder, Welding: Principles and Applications, Professional Diver’s Manual on Wet-Welding

LNG: A Nontechnical Guide, Fundamentals of Natural Gas Processing, Second Edition (Dekker Mechanical Engineering), Gas and Oil Reliability Engineering: Modeling and Analysis

Leave a Comment » | engineering, Malaysia, oil and gas | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Wata

Polisi baru PETRONAS sisih syarikat bumiputera?

March 17, 2013

You can translate yourself. Who IS the advisor on these matters? If the guy asks for a cup of coffee when discussing the points of attack, she’s been overpaid. Me, I am open, and will charge you hourly rates with an invoice.

From Harakah Daily, dateline 2013-02-03:

Teras Pengupayaan Melayu (Teras) mendesak kerajaan agar polisi baru yang berkaitan dengan anugerah tender yang kini berjalan di bawah Presiden dan CEO Petronas Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas disemak semula.

Presidennya, Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid berkata, walaupun CEO Petronas  tersebut ada menyatakan mahu melakukan reformasi besar dalam pengurusan Petronas, namun perubahan polisi yang menyisihkan syarikat tempatan dan syarikat bumiputera bukanlah perubahan yang dapat diterima.

“Berdasarkan perkembangan terkini yang melibatkan penganugerahan konsesi Petronas kepada syarikat asing, peranan Petronas untuk meningkatkan penyertaan syarikat bumiputera dalam industri minyak dan gas kini terjejas,” ujarnya dalam satu kenyataan.

Kenyataan beliau selanjutnya seperti di bawah.

…

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MTEM mahu Presiden Petronas diganti

March 16, 2013

You can translate yourself.

From Utusan, dateline 2013-02-03:

Sebanyak 47 pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) ekonomi Melayu mahu Presiden dan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Petroliam Nasional Bhd. (Petronas), Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas meletak jawatan daripada menerajui syarikat khazanah yang menjadi ikon negara ini.

Kesemua NGO yang bergabung di bawah Majlis Tindakan Ekonomi Melayu (MTEM) mendakwa Petronas di bawah kepimpinan Shamsul Azhar gagal menjalankan tanggungjawab dan matlamat penubuhan iaitu meningkatkan ekonomi usahawan bumiputera, khususnya dalam bidang minyak dan gas.

Pengerusi MTEM, Datuk Syed Ali Mohamed Alattas mendakwa, antara punca utama syarikat nadi negara itu gagal dalam penubuhannya kerana lebih mengutamakan syarikat asing yang sebahagiannya tidak mempunyai lesen Petronas seperti termaktub dalam undang-undang.

…

Leave a Comment » | engineering, Malaysian election, oil and gas | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Wata

IEM Shout Out – Full-Day HAZOP Training For Team Members – A Practical Approach

March 12, 2013

The Young Engineers  will be hosting a 1 day seminar on the 26th March, 2013. It is worth 6 CPD points, and held at Wisma IEM. Since I’m giving it, I expect hoards will have to be turned away at the gates.

A Hazard and Operability study is a formal and systematic and detailed examination of the process and engineering intentions of new or existing facilities which assesses the hazard potential and effects on the facility as a whole when operation is outside of the design envelope, or individual items of equipment malfunction.

This course is designed to educate participants in the HAZOP process from the perspective of a HAZOP team member. It is meant to provide both instruction and workshop sessions so that the participants:

  • Are familiar with the concept of ‘risk’
  • Are familiar with the theory behind HAZOP
  • Are familiar with the actual HAZOP workshop process
  • Have expectations as to what the HAZOP will (and won’t provide)
  • Understand what deliverables can be expected from a HAZOP
  • Have the opportunity to participate in HAZOP exercise in a safe environment
  • Opportunity to share HAZOP experiences

At the end of the session, the participants should:

  • Understand the responsibilities of all parties in the HAZOP
  • Have experience in a HAZOP session.
  • Understand the outcomes from a HAZOP session

Wata has 17 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, in both design and operations.

Register here, or download the form here.

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

Saturday Star 2013-03-09 – Job Opportunities

March 11, 2013

Buy my recommendations, or through my Amazon store. Where are those corporate sponsors? Or throw donations at me. I need money to purchase a dive light.

If you need my help to submit your CVs, donate to the blog, and I’ll review your CV to see if it is worthy of my (and my associates’) expectations. If you can’t figure out how to donate, no need to ask.

This week, it looks like you (the advertisers) are recycling last weeks adverts. Since it’s a holiday today (Monday), I guess you are justified

  • I’m looking for a senior process engineer, 7+ years experience. Send your cv here. Also looking for process safety persons, lead piping designer, lead instrument engineer, and other seniors you think will catch my eye.
  • Murphy is looking for a reservoir engineer. Send your cv here.

How about some local food? Alisara at Puchong Indah. Specialises in Thai food, and has mango with stick rice.

Break the Low Yat stranglehold! Support Newegg Malaysia.

Here’s a switch, a fiction novel combining diving, welding, oil & gas and family.

  

The Underwater Welder, Welding: Principles and Applications, Professional Diver’s Manual on Wet-Welding

LNG: A Nontechnical Guide, Fundamentals of Natural Gas Processing, Second Edition (Dekker Mechanical Engineering), Gas and Oil Reliability Engineering: Modeling and Analysis

Leave a Comment » | engineering, Malaysia, oil and gas | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Wata

Up Close and Personal with Iain Lo

March 8, 2013

From The Star, dateline 2013-03-02:

Better known to close friends and family as a wine aficionado and connoisseur, Iain Lo enjoys any weekend that comes with sipping on exquisite wines and dining on home cooked roast meals.

“Apart from the fact that I like eating, cooking for me is quite relaxing,” he says.

The Shell Malaysia chairman and managing director of Sarawak Shell Bhd and Sabah Shell Petroleum Co Ltd, likes to cook simple meals, which tend to be Western in nature such as roasts and risottos, to show off the wine accompanied with it.

…

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