July 22, 2018
Dateline 2018-07-08, FMT:
Suarah Petroleum Group views the current developments in Sarawak oil and gas issues with great concern. Being an active contributor in this journey in redressing oil and gas equity and revenue for Sarawak, we call on all parties for clear heads to prevail and ask them to reduce the political “one-upmanship” between Sarawak and the newly elected federal government.
We also reiterate our mission to provide professional advice and services to maximise Sarawak’s socio-economic benefit and safeguard its rights in the oil and gas industry for its present and future generations.
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Posted by Wata
July 19, 2018
Dateline 2018-06-07, Malay Mail:
Putrajaya has agreed to pay royalties to all oil-producing states, Terengganu MB Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said today.
He said the assurance was given by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad during the first National Finance Council meeting under the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government here earlier that was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail and the mentris besar of Kelantan, Perak, and Johor as well as the secretaries-general of ministries.
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Posted by Wata
July 11, 2018
Dateline 2018-06-05, Straits Times:
Malaysia’s Finance Ministry has discovered dubious payments made in two pipeline projects, with nearly 90 per cent of the contracts worth RM9.4 billion (S$3.2 billion) being paid out but only 13 per cent of the work being completed.
The projects – one multi-product petroleum pipeline running from Melaka and Negeri Sembilan to Kedah, and a gas pipeline from Kimanis to Sandakan and Tawau, all in Sabah – were handled by Suria Strategic Energy Resources (SSER), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance.
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Posted by Wata
July 7, 2018
Apologies for focussing on market news, its a slow news cycle.
Dateline 2018-05-31, NST:
The oil and gas companies under Kenanga Research’s coverage are likely to see deteriorating performance with lower number of outperformers.
Kenanga Research said only two out of seven companies that released their latest interim results had outperformed. They were Dialog Group Bhd and Sapura Energy Bhd.
Another company in the firm’s universe is Bumi Armada Bhd, which is due to release its first quarter results today.
“The disappointment ratio was also higher at 31 per cent (assuming Bumi Armada’s results came within expectations) versus 13 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2017 even with the anticipation of first quarter being a seasonally weak quarter,” Kenanga Research said today.
It noted that upstream services players such as Alam Maritim Resources Bhd, Coastal Contracts Bhd and Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd had missed expectations due to stubborn fixed costs amidst unsatisfactory vessel utilisation.
Gas Malaysia Bhd and Petronas Dagangan Bhd also had a soft start dragged by higher product costs and sliding sales volume.
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Leave a Comment » | engineering, investment | Tagged: Alam Maritim, Bumi Armada, Coastal Contracts, Dayang Enterprise, Dialog, Kenanga, Sapura Energy | Permalink
Posted by Wata
July 4, 2018
Dateline 2018-05-30, Reuters:
Malaysia may collect up to $2.3 billion more in taxes and dividends from Petroliam Nasional Berhad, or Petronas, this year, a finance ministry official said on Wednesday, as firmer oil prices boost profits at the state energy firm.
The new administration led by Mahathir Mohamad is relying more on Petronas – a significant contributor to government revenue and the country’s largest employer – to offset a revenue shortfall from the government’s plan to scrap a consumption tax.
Oil prices were trading close to 3-1/2-year highs on Wednesday as Petronas reported a 26-percent surge in first quarter profit.
With oil prices improving, Malaysia may collect 8-9 billion ringgit ($2-$2.26 billion) more in revenue from Petronas this year, Ong Kian Ming, a special officer to the finance minister, told Reuters.
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Posted by Wata
June 28, 2018
Dateline 2018-05-16, Saudi Gazette:
Nasional Berhad (Petronas), the national oil company of Malaysia and Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) Moday launched “PRefChem”, the corporate identity for their joint ventures in the Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) located in Pengerang, Johor, Malaysia. PRefChem comprises Pengerang Refining Company Sdn Bhd (PRefChem Refining) and Pengerang Petrochemical Company Sdn Bhd (PRefChem Petrochemical), both will be collectively known as “PRefChem”.
Petronas and Saudi Aramco had earlier in March 2018 concluded the Share Purchase Agreement for equal ownership and participation in the operations of the refinery, cracker and selected petrochemical facilities in the PIC.
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Posted by Wata
May 1, 2018
Dateline 2018-03-07, The Straits Times:
Sarawak announced yesterday that it now has complete mining rights over its territory, making it the first state in Malaysia to form a state-owned oil and gas company.
Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg said the formation of Petros, which was founded last year, was part of the promise made by the federal government to return eroded rights from the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63), signed when the giant state agreed to become part of Malaysia.
“This gives Sarawak full regulatory authority of the upstream, downstream aspects of the oil and gas industry,” said Datuk Abang Johari at an event to launch Petros in the Sarawak capital of Kuching.
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Posted by Wata
April 29, 2018
Dateline 2018-03-06, Nikkei:
Malaysian oil-and-gas shipping firm MISC said Tuesday it has been giving full support and cooperation to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission or MACC on the investigation related to company’s alleged bribery.
“The group has a zero tolerance policy against any form of bribery or corruption by our employees, subsidiaries or any persons or companies acting for MISC or on its behalf,” the company said in an exchange filing.
MISC’s response comes following an earlier report by The Sun newspaper, said officials of MISC were under MACC probe over allegations of power abuse and corruption involving about 109 million ringgit ($27.9 million).
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Posted by Wata
April 22, 2018
Dateline 2018-03-02, Kitko:
Malaysian state energy firm Petroliam Nasional Berhad , or Petronas, posted a 61 percent jump in quarterly profit on Friday and pledged to boost its dividend payout and capital spending this year. Petronas, like other oil majors, had taken a hit from lower oil prices, but sharp cost cuts – along with some recent stability in oil prices – helped the company post higher profits and margins. Net profit for the fourth quarter ended December rose to 18.2 billion ringgit ($4.65 billion) from 11.3 billion ringgit in the same quarter last year, while revenue rose 13.8 percent to 61.8 billion ringgit.
The quarterly result helped push full-year profit up 91 percent to 45.5 billion ringgit – marking a second year of profit growth for the sole manager of Malaysia’s oil and gas reserves following a two-year profit slump. “Petronas is now in stronger position to execute its long term growth agenda,” Chief Executive Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said. “Petronas will explore new business areas, including speciality chemicals and new energy.” Petronas will focus on the ASEAN region, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and the Americas for growth, he said, adding that the company will assess opportunities in solar energy. Wan Zulkiflee said the company will continue its focus on costs. Petronas, a major contributor to Malaysia’s budget and one of the country’s biggest employers, said in 2016 that it would reduce expenses by $12 billion over a four-year period and cut thousands of jobs.
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Posted by Wata
April 20, 2018
Dateline 2018-03-01, NST:
Asset acquisitions in the oil and gas industry may continue this year as big players seek to increase their capital expenditure while oil prices are rebounding.
This will also benefit smaller players like Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd in the hunt for potential new brownfield assets as rationalisation by the big players continue.
Since oil price plummeted in 2014, the global oil and gas industry saw high number of mergers and acquisition (M&As) deals where big players carried out their rationalisation plans, cut down costs and capital deployment, as well as sold assets to smaller players.
Bloomberg data showed M&As in the industry picked up since 2013 to reach its highest volume level of 428.2 billion in 2017.
According to Financial Times, quoting Mergermarket, M&As had risen by 40 per cent to US$270 billion in the first nine months of last year, compared with US$192 billion in the same period in 2016.
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Posted by Wata
Wata - Malaysian Oil and Gas Engineer 