MPRC to engage Sarawak, Petros on new O&G ruling

June 16, 2018

For the historical record.

Dateline 2018-04-24, The Malaysian Reserve:

Malaysia Petroleum Resources Corp (MPRC) will collaborate with the Sarawak state government on the latter’s move to assume control of its oil and gas (O&G) rights from Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas).

MPRC stated it would also engage with the relevant parties including Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros) on how local O&G service and equipment players are to proceed once the takeover move and new rulings come into effect on July 1 this year.

“We will update industry players once there is further clarity on the regulatory structure and how local O&G service and equipment companies could be impacted by the changes,” MPRC stated in its response to a query by The Malaysian Reserve (TMR) on the latest status of the move by the Sarawak state government.

Following prospective amendments to the Oil Mining Ordinance 1958 and Gas Distribution Ordinance 2016, companies involved in Sarawak’s O&G industry will be required to obtain the necessary licences and leases from the state government.

 


O&G industry under state law

June 15, 2018

This may be a historical note, maybe not.

Dateline 2018-04-20, Borneo Post:

Actions and penalties will be taken against any person or company including its contractors, sub-contractors and vendors operating in Sarawak without licences issued by the state government when the new regulatory framework over the oil and gas industry comes into force effective this July 1.

In order to ensure an orderly implementation of these new policies by the state government, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said an engagement with all industry players including Petronas will be held in the middle of next month (May).

“This is to inform them (industry players) about the state’s new regulatory framework over the upstream and downstream aspects of the oil and gas industry in Sarawak,” he told a press conference after witnessing the signing of a land lease agreement for the development of an integrated supply base at Bintulu Port in a leading hotel here yesterday.


BPA, Bintulu Supply Base sign land lease agreement

June 14, 2018

Dateline 2018-04-19, Borneo Post:

Sarawak’s oil and gas industry achieved another milestone today with the signing of the land lease agreement for the development of an integrated supply base at the Second Inner Harbour, Bintulu Port.

The supply base will cater to the needs of the oil and gas industry offshore East Malaysia, and is targeted for start of commercial operations by the fourth quarter of 2019.

The signing of the land lease agreement between Bintulu Port Authority (BPA) and Bintulu Supply Base Sdn Bhd was witnessed by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.

BPA was represented by its chairman Hadzari Abang and general manager Zulkurnain Ayub while Bintulu Supply Base was represented by its chairman Ahmadi Yusoff and director Datuk Ahmad Redza Abdullah.

Abang Johari pointed out that this new integrated supply base at Bintulu Port, will become a one-stop centralised logistic support centre to service the needs of oil and gas exploration, development and production activities in off shore areas of Sarawak.

 


Body of missing Ocean Geos crew found by rescuers

June 4, 2018

Dateline 2018-04-18, NST:

The body of the Ocean Geos crew, reported missing when a fire broke out on the oil and gas drilling vessel, has been found.

The remains of Mohamad Saiful Ashnar, 31, were found inside the body of the ship about 1.30pm after the rescue team made the decision to search inside the vessel this morning.

Miri Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) director Captain Md Fauzi Othman said the body was found by four Miri Zone Fire and Rescue Department personnel.

“The victim’s body was then taken to the Labuan Marina Jetty before being handed over to the police for further action,” he said when contacted, here on Wednesday.

He said MMEA had sought the help of firefighters as they had experience handling such cases, including the risk of poisonous gas leakage.

“This is part of the rescue team’s efforts in locating the crew,” he said.

In the incident that took place around 3am on Tuesday, the Ocean Geos was conducting geotechnical work in the area during the incident.


Sapura Energy finally gets go-ahead for Sarawak gas fields

June 3, 2018

Dateline 2018-04-12, The Edge:

The long-awaited go-ahead for the development of three gas fields off Sarawak provided a huge boost to flagging Sapura Energy Bhd, with its market capitalisation boosted by more than half a billion ringgit as its share price rallied sharply yesterday.

Sapura Energy logged its largest single-day price gain since its listing six years ago to finish a fifth higher to 64.5 sen after it announced it was proceeding with the development of the Gorek, Larak and Bakong gas fields off Sarawak under phase one of the SK408 production sharing contract (PSC).

The PSC follows a final investment decision (FID) made after the fields development plan received Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s approval. Concurrently, the key terms of the gas sales agreement for the gas fields’ development have been agreed upon.


Saudi Aramco finalizes refinery deal with Malaysia’s Petronas

June 2, 2018

Only now?

Dateline 2018-03-28, Reuters:

Saudi Aramco [IPO-ARMO.SE] finalised a deal on Wednesday with Malaysian state energy company Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) to invest in a refinery project off Malaysia.


Hibiscus Petroleum Completes Acquisition of North Sabah PSC from Shell

June 1, 2018

Dateline 2018-04-01, 360 Feed Wire:

Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd (HIBISCS; MYX: 5199) is pleased to announce that its indirect wholly owned subsidiary SEA Hibiscus Sdn Bhd (SEA Hibiscus) has completed its acquisition of a 50% participating interest in the 2011 North Sabah Enhanced Oil Recovery Production Sharing Contract (North Sabah PSC or PSC) and the joint operating agreement (JOA) in relation to the PSC.

To recap, SEA Hibiscus had, on 12 October 2016, entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Limited and Shell Sabah Selatan Sdn Bhd (collectively Shell) to acquire Shell’s participating interests in the PSC between Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS), Shell and PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd (PETRONAS Carigali), and the JOA between Shell and PETRONAS Carigali for the total purchase consideration of US$25 million.

The North Sabah PSC includes 20 offshore platforms across four producing fields located in the South China Sea, off the west coast of Sabah, and the Labuan Crude Oil Terminal located in the Labuan Federal Territory, in Malaysia. The fields have been producing since 1979 and the PSC provides the Group with operatorship and production rights up to 2040.


IEM Shout Out – 2018-06 Talk on “Managing Onshore Process Plant Piping: Care Enough?”

May 31, 2018

My technical division will be hosting a talk on the 9th June 2018. It is worth XX CPD points, and held at Wisma IEM. The talk will be presented by Ir. Lee Chang Quan.

Onshore process plants are normally designed with a certain design life. Inspection and maintenance program is carried out along the operating years as part of asset care so as to ensure the asset integrity and safe operation. Towards the end of initial design life, a business decision would be made either to decommission or continue operating. In order to continue operating safely, one approach is to extend plant life with plant rejuvenation that involves major repair, equipment replacement, system upgrade.  Piping rejuvenation work is one of the critical activities throughout the process plant rejuvenation due to its volume and resources required to get the work done safely. The work requires detail planning and execution not only to work safely within a live operating plant condition, but also to minimize the shutdown duration for plant shutdown activity. This talk will provide an overview in managing the piping integrity as part of asset care program. Rejuvenation scope of a process plant piping, starting from early planning, asset life study, engineering design, procurement, installation and construction will be addressed. The key challenges and lesson learnt in managing the piping integrity will be shared.

Ir. Lee Chang Quan started his career as a mechanical engineer with a design engineering firm, and moved on to join a national oil company. His experience in the oil and gas industry include engineering, procurement, installation and construction activities in plant modification and rejuvenation projects. He has led a few feasibility studies, engineering management work and managing brownfield projects. Later, he moved on to undertake operational excellence and improvement roles at business level. He has taken managerial role in Health, Safety and Environment, formulating HSE strategies and implementation plan. He is a trained internal auditor, involving in Tier 1, 2, 3 HSE Assurance Programs. He has been invited to deliver adjunct lectures / technical talks to several higher institutions in Malaysia. He has recently moved to take up Asset Integrity Manager position in one of Oil Company’s business unit.

Ir. Lee Chang Quan graduated from University Teknologi Malaysia with a Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has a Master Degree in Business Administration from University of Nottingham. He is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®) and a Certified Solutions Focused Coach (CSFC). He is also serving the Oil, Gas and Mining Technical Division of IEM.

Register here, or download the form here.


O&G risks arise from East Malaysian moves

May 28, 2018

Dateline 2018-03-27, Borneo Post:

There is a possibility of lower Petronas equity stakes in East Malaysian production sharing contracts (PSCs).

AmInvestment Bank Bhd (AmInvestment Bank) yesterday said that as the aim of these new regulatory regime is to ensure a higher share of the state’s hydrocarbon revenues to be deployed to Sarawak, there was a possibility that the state may assume half of Petronas’ equity share in the production sharing contracts (PSC) in the state, besides novating the federal government’s royalty of five per cent.

“As Sabah may follow suit, these new considerations which will entail another bureaucratic layer of approvals may weigh down Petronas’ final investment decisions in East Malaysia – notwithstanding closely-guarded negotiations currently between these concerned parties,” it forewarned in a report following the Offshore Technology Conference Asia (OTCA) held last week.


Petronas aims to maintain discipline

May 27, 2018

Dateline 2018-03-24, The Star:

WHILE a cautious outlook is being projected for the upstream oil and gas (O&G) sector this year, national oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is confident that the challenges facing the industry can be overcome with the proper strategies in place.

Petronas executive vice-president and upstream chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib says the company already has a growth plan outlined for it.

“When people ask me about the outlook, you have to be positive in this business.

“We will work towards a plan that we have, which is capital and operational discipline,” he said during a briefing in conjunction with the Offshore Technology Conference Asia 2018 earlier this week.