Is Petronas abandoning bumi vendors or are bumi vendors ASKING FOR TOO MUCH?

January 12, 2014

Dateline 2013-11-18, The Malaysia Chronicle:

Despite the denials from none other than the Petronas CEO, allegations that the national oil company has been side-lining Bumiputera companies continue to take media limelight.

That MTEM’s accusation of Petronas neglecting local vendors when dishing out contracts and failing to carry out its responsibility to contribute to the growth of Bumiputera entrepreneurs is arguably perceived negatively by many.

This writer is fully conscious of this political backdrop and of the fact that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders and lawmakers have criticised Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who recently told the state oil firm to embrace the pro-Bumiputera New Economic Policy (NEP) and to be more Malay-friendly.

This writing however, attempts to highlight the precarious situation Petronas finds itself in, much to the chagrin of the Advisor perhaps. More importantly and outrightly, this short piece is in fact seeking for a clarification from Petronas’ leadership of the actual state of affairs especially in regard to the Vendor Development Programme.


TTHE Bags Deal to Build Wellhead Platform for Bertam Oil Field in PM307

January 11, 2014

Old news, but good.

Dateline 2013-11-14, Rigzone:

TH Heavy Engineering Berhad (THHE), an offshore oil and gas facilities fabricator, reported that its wholly owned subsidiary, THHE Fabricators Sdn. Bhd. (TFSB) has received a Letter of Award from Lundin Petroleum’s unit Lundin Malaysia B.V. (Lundin) Nov. 4 to fabricate a wellhead platform for the PM307 Bertam field development project off Pahang, Malaysia.

Under the contract, TFSB will fabricate the wellhead platform for the Bertam project, which is located about 108 miles (175 kilometers) off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The wellhead platform is scheduled for completion in about 12 months.


Continental Partners Up For Malaysian Bids

January 10, 2014

Who is Continental’s partner

Dateline 2013-11-12, WSJ:

Continental Energy Corporation (otcqb:CPPXF) (the “Company”) an emerging international energy company with a long history in oil and gas exploration in Southeast Asia, today announced that it has entered into a 50/50 joint bid arrangement with an established Malaysian partner to evaluate opportunities and present carefully selected bids for new oil and gas production sharing and risk service contracts offered in Malaysia by PETRONAS, the national oil company.


Malaysia’s Petronas third quarter profits jump by nearly 20 percent

January 9, 2014

Dateline 2013-11-13, The China Post:

Malaysian state energy firm PETRONAS said Tuesday its third-quarter net profit rebounded, rising 19.5 percent year-on-year due to higher sales of crude oil and other products.

Revenue for the third quarter was up 19.2 percent to 81.4 billion ringgit compared to 68.33 billion ringgit last year, said the company, Malaysia’s only representative in the Fortune 500.

The increase in revenue was driven by higher sales of crude oil, processed gas and other products on the back of stronger customer demand, together with the effect of the strengthening of the dollar against the ringgit.


Saturday Star 2014-01-04 – Job Opportunities

January 6, 2014

Buy my recommendations, or through my Amazon store. Where are those corporate sponsors? Or throw donations at me. I need RM360 to get The Star ePaper

  • I’m looking for a senior process engineer, 7+ years experience. Send your cv here. Also looking for technical safety persons, metering / measurement engineers and other seniors you think will catch my eye.
  • Nothing of interest this week.

Help me (and you) increase my cloud presence. Pleease use some form of cloud storage, so if you lose your laptop with those oh-so-important reports, be assured that (with Internet access) the files are still accessible. Use my referrals for Dropbox, MiMedia,  SpiderOak, MediaFire, Ubuntu One, Sugar Sync.

Support your local bookshop!  Bookalicious at The Summit Subang is a good choice. I think they focus on trilogies, quadrilogies, and other ologies. Tell them I sent you, and enjoy the look of perplexity on their faces. Those of you who have dropped my name, thanks!

This week, my theme is, you need to be a better all round engineer. Hence, some selections for the process engineer:

A Simple Guide To Understanding Jet Engines, Process Plant Instrumentation: Design and Upgrade, Mechanical Design of Process Systems: Piping and Pressure Vessels

The IEM has a coffee table book out, Engineering Heritage of Malaysia (no, it is not Datuk Seri Samy Vellu’s bio). Visit here for details.


NEL Appoints Industry Veteran to Launch Asia Pacific Flow Measurement Business

January 5, 2014

Nah, come see me first about your measurement needs. You know you want to.

Dateline 2013-11-11, Jakarta Post:

NEL has appointed Gilbert Tonner as Regional Manager as it launches its flow consultancy business in the Asia Pacific region. With inaccurate flow metering estimated to cost the industry billions of dollars per year worldwide, stakeholders are demanding greater accountability from oil and gas operators in the region.

Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the new manufacturer-independent business will offer a range of unbiased training, testing and calibration support to oil & gas operators in Asia Pacific. This follows PETRONAS, the national oil company of Malaysia, awarding NEL a licence to operate.


First Oil Commences at Balai Field in Balai Cluster RSC offshore Sarawak

January 4, 2014

Dateline 2013-11-11, Rigzone:

Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) announced Sunday that oil production from the Balai field in the Balai Cluster Risk Service Contract (RSC) area offshore Sarawak, Malaysia has commenced Nov. 6.

The field’s first oil was achieved utilizing an early production vessel (EPV) as a part of the RSC area’s extended well testing (EWT) program.

The Balai Cluster RSC was awarded in August 2011 to BC Petroleum Sdn Bhd, a partnership between Roc Oil (Malaysia) Pty Ltd, Dialog D & P Sdn Bhd and Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd. It is the second RSC that has successfully achieved oil production after the Berantai gas field.


Oil tanker hijacked off Malaysia

January 3, 2014

Dateline 2013-11-08, Bangkok Post:

An oil tanker has become the second such vessel to be hijacked in Malaysian waters in four weeks, the International Maritime Bureau said on Friday, pointing to rising piracy in the region.

The Panamanian-flagged vessel was boarded  on Thursday by 10 armed pirates, who emptied it of the oil it was carrying into another ship before disembarking.

In early October a Thai-flagged oil tanker went missing for two days after a hijacking before being released without its cargo.

The IMB said there had been an increase in the number of attacks on Malaysia’s coast recently but added it could not be sure if the two most recent attacks were by the same group.

“This is the third attack in two months, with the last two using the same modus operandi to steal the gas oil,” said Noel Choong, head of IMB’s Kuala Lumpur-based piracy reporting centre.


Electricity rates up next year as Putrajaya trims subsidies, says business daily

January 2, 2014

Dateline 2013-11-08, The Malaysian Insider:

Electricity rates in Malaysia are expected to rise next year as Putrajaya plans to trim fuel subsidies for power producers in the first quarter of 2014, a business daily reported today.

The Malaysian Reserve said estimates show that electricity could rise as much as 19%, from 33.5 sen per kilowatt-hour to 40 sen per kilowatt-hour, if all the subsidies are removed.

The business paper quoted Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water secretary-general Datuk Loo Took Gee as saying that the reduction in fuel subsidies for the power sector is essential to stabilise the economy.


Barakah shares trade like ‘HOT CAKES’ on listing debut

January 1, 2014

Is hot cakes an euphemism? Dateline 2013-11-07, Malaysia Chronicle:

Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd, which took over the listing status of Vastalux Energy Bhd, saw its shares traded like hot cakes as investors bet that the company will win more oil and gas jobs in the near future.

The stock opened on Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market at 98 sen, a hefty 44.5-sen premium to its 53.5 sen reverse takeover price of Vastalux. The loan stocks, Barakah-LA, opened at 80.5 sen, up 27 sen from its offer price of 53.5 sen.

The mother shares were heavily traded throughout the day, ending at RM1 a share, while the loan stock closed at 62 sen.

Investors were betting that Barakah could be the stellar new stock on the Bursa this year, following in the footsteps of Datasonic Bhd.

Datasonic, which begun trading on the Bursa in September 2012, has seen its stock price triple in value over a 12-month period. It stock closed at RM6.44 yesterday, a steep rise from its RM2 IPO price.