PETRONAS unfair to Sabah?

June 25, 2010

First, the important stuff. Today is the one year anniversary demise of the King of Pop. C’mon KL, let’s roll down those car windows, and here his hits blast out across the streets! And a bit of moonwalking as well.

Back to our scheduled broadcast. A former chief minister speaks out against PETRONAS. He’s asking for a Sabahan to be appointed to the Board to look out for Sabah’s interests. Don’t know about you, but doesn’t a board of a company look out for its own interests? You would assume that Sabah will be a big contributor in the future, so if the Board was reasonably competent (and the PETRONAS senior executive team reasonably… reasonable?) Sabah’s future in the PETRONAS scheme of things is already taken care off.

Dateline 2010-06-24, though I don’t know how credible the e-newspaper is.

Kota Kinabalu: The best means of ensuring that Sabah’s interests are not ignored in Petronas’ dealings is to have a Sabahan appointed to its Board, said former Chief Minister Datuk Harris Salleh.

“It is believed that no Sabahan has been appointed by Petronas as a Board Member since its inception,” he said in a statement, Wednesday.

He said it was more timely now as “I understand Sabah is at the start of an oil boom after a string of successful discoveries of deep water fields”.

He believed the State’s deepwater projects like Kikeh, Gumusut/Kakap, Ubahcrest, Pisangan, Malikai Sumandak, Ambalak, etc, would propel Sabah to be the biggest producer of crude oil in Malaysia.

He said the projections are that Sabah is expected to produce 500,000 to 600,000 barrels per day compared to the current national production of only 700,000 barrels per day.

“This is not inclusive of (ex-Petronas Chairman) Tengku Razaleigh’s claim of a huge oil deposit found off Sabah, the biggest in South East Asia capable of producing one million barrels per day,” he said.

With the massive expected production from Sabah and from its operations since 1975, Harris presumed the State would be fully engaged in the industry, with major oil and gas infrastructures, downstream industries and activities.

…

I want an Orang Noghri (or Sumatran) to be appointed to the Board, to ensure adat pepatih is fairly represented in legal dealings.

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From AFP: Malaysia calls for measures to halt oil price fixing

June 23, 2010

Maybe someone can enlighten me how oil price fixing works?

Taken from AFP,

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on Monday called for a mechanism to prevent oil price manipulation, saying high prices could derail the global economic recovery.

“In this respect, proposals for greater oversight of financial markets aimed at preventing price manipulation should be welcomed if they lead to a more efficient and robust price formation,” he told an industry gathering.

Oil prices edged to around 80 dollars a barrel last October but have fallen recently, sinking below 70 dollars in Asian trade on Monday as a weak US jobs report continued to hurt investor sentiment.

New York’s main futures contract, light sweet crude for delivery in July, fell 1.82 dollars to 69.69 dollars a barrel in morning trade.

Najib did not speculate at what range oil prices should be in his speech in Kuala Lumpur.

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From Reuters – ConocoPhillips seeks to expand in Malaysia upstream

June 22, 2010

Does ConocoPhillips want to operate oil blocks in Malaysia? They do have an office in the Twin Towers, but I believe its represents CoP’s interests in JV’s rather than operating as a PSC.

Dateline 2010-06-08, reported by Reuters:

ConocoPhillips (COP.N), the third-largest U.S. oil company by market value, is talking to national energy giant Petronas to expand its position in the upstream sector in Malaysia, a senior executive said on Tuesday.

“We are certainly looking for opportunities in Malaysia. We are talking to Petronas,” said Ryan M Lance, ConocoPhillips’ Senior Vice President, Exploration & Production, International.

“We would love to expand our position in Malaysia,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of an oil and gas conference in the Malaysian capital.

Asked what areas ConocoPhillips is targeting, he said: “Exploration oil and gas. We are always looking for good opportunities.”

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Saturday Star 2010-06-19 – Job Opportunities

June 21, 2010

Support me by purchasing my recommendations, or buying through my Amazon store.

First off, 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. I take it the industry’s booming again, looking at the number of ads in today’s paper.

  • There is an opening as admin staff at Synergy. We are also looking for someone with the ability and personality to fill up the position as a permanent member of the family. To balance things out, we’re focusing on competent female applicants.
  • Wow, RasGas has a 1 1/2 page spread. It’s looking for field operators (onshore), shift supervisors, panel/senior operators. Walk-in on the 23rd to 25th June 2010 here. The interviews will be held here. They are also looking for a lead integrity eng, integrity engineering specialist (pressure vessels/ piping), snr integrity eng, integrity eng, lead mech eng, snr mech eng. Interview on the 24th and 25th, same place as before. And they are also looking for snr marine eng, head of maint & reliability, maint eng – elc, maint eng – instr, head of planning (maint), maint eng specialist – machinery & reliability, maint eng specialist – support services, planning eng, planning eng specialist, head of training and comp, training specialist (planning), snr training coordinator, interface eng specialist. Again, walk-in interviews on the 23-27 June, same place. CVs to be submitted here. You can phone the local recruiters at +603 2078 1917/8. I believe RasGas is a JV, one of the partners being ExxonMobil.
  • Ranhill WorleyParsons is looking for snr cost eng, lead design mech/piping, snr design mech/piping, design mech/piping, snr mech/piping designer, snr control & automation eng, design control & automation eng, control & automation eng, lead civil structural eng, lead elect eng, design senior project eng. Hey, how come they aren’t looking for process? I assume they have more than they need at the moment. Anyhow, apply online here. (I haven’t seen a *.cgi address in a looong time. Brings back the retro feeling). Alternatively, send your CVs here.
  • Sabic has an advert. They are looking for a snr eng (process safety – Jubail), Lead occupational health (Jubail), Snr Safety Eng (Riyadh). You can apply via email here or here. Or key in your resumes online here. Login under candidate login and password at the website.
  • Murphy is looking for a deputy snr project manager, facilities project manager, tech advisor and onshore fabrication head. Send your applications here.
  • If you want to look after the JDA, there’s a position open for a business planner / analyst. Send your applications here.
  • Lundin’s looking for people a drilling superintendent, snr drilling operations engineers. Visit their site and apply here.

I still think you should get engineering books.

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From Oil & Gas Journal – Brunei, Malaysia to share revenues from disputed oil blocks

June 20, 2010

Maybe I should have gone to the recent AOGC conference, and reported the events with my own slant on things. Can I get sponsorship for the next one, for the tune of USD1000?

And if Brunei owns oil blocks, why on earth would they share the revenue? Is Malaysia going to share the revenue of our oil blocks?

Dateline 2010-06-09, from Oil & Gas Journal:

Eric Watkins, OGJ Oil Diplomacy Editor

Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman acknowledged that neighboring Brunei owns two formerly disputed oil blocks, but that Malaysia will have a share of revenue produced from them.

Aman said the revenue-sharing was made possible through a commercial arrangement agreed to in March by leaders of the two countries, but that the two sides are still discussing the ratio of the revenues to be shared.

“If we look strictly at the interpretation of the law based on [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea] 1982, it clearly belongs to Brunei,” said Aman in response to a question by opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar had asked Aman to state the validity of the decision of the federal government to hand over Blocks L and M to Brunei, and why the issue of sovereignty of territorial waters of that area was not referred to the Malaysian parliament.

Earlier this year, Murphy Oil Corp.’s interests in Blocks L and M off Malaysia were terminated after resolution of a dispute with Brunei over control of the assets.

That agreement ended a dispute that erupted in 2003 when Petronas and Murphy were awarded two offshore leases, SB L and SB M. The blocks overlapped with Brunei’s Blocks J and K, which had been awarded to Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (OGJ Online, Apr. 22, 2010).

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Reader Support – Young Turks of PETRONAS

June 19, 2010

Thanks to blog reader Ahmad Izwan, I have gotten hold of 3 sets consisting of hardcopy editions of “The Young Turks of PETRONAS” and “Hang Jebat di PETRONAS.” Disclaimer: I did purchase the books.

I would seriously suggest that you get your own copies. The book documents a personal account of the creation of PETRONAS. Maybe after you read it, then any criticisms of the Company is tempered by the challenges thrown at us by Shell and Esso while Malaysia was wrestling back control of its oil.

Thanks to Datuk Haji Ismail Hashim for deigning to autograph the book. Maybe I can get a photo and interview session in the near future…

Update 2013-09-01: I have found copies of the book to sell. Look at the sidebar, or contact me.

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Memory Lane – Teluk Kalung

June 18, 2010

I don’t travel a lot to Teluk Kalung, as I don’t have any supplies stored in the KSB. When I was based in Kertih, prior to them opening the new road that bypasses Kg Teluk Kalung, you had to go past the place whenever you wanted to head south along the coast.

However, I did take the opportunity to visit the place during the past few weeks. Man, did I get lost. Also, I didn’t realise that there was a Pantai Teluk Kalung.

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From Bernama – Nippon Oil To Conduct Onshore Exploration In Miri

June 17, 2010

Cool, there might be an opertions room in NOEX’s offices in Miri. And on oil pad in the middle of the Miri Fan.

Dateline 2010-06-10, taken from Bernama:

Japanese oil and gas company, Nippon Oil Exploration (Malaysia) Ltd, will carry out a seismic study within Miri starting this September as part of its onshore oil and gas exploration of Block SK333 in the city here.

The study, which would employ the vibroseis seismic survey technology, the latest in onshore exploration, is expected to be completed in three months, said Nippon Oil’s Managing Director, Hideki Kitagawa on Thursday.

Speaking at an awareness session on the project here, he said the new technology would be used in Malaysia for the first time.

He said the survey follows the awarding of a contract by Petronas to Nippon Oil in 2007 to carry out works on Block SK333, which is about 3,800 kilometres square in size.

About 97 per cent of the total acreage had been surveyed and mostly located in the rural part of the Miri Division near Marudi district.

…

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From O&G Journal – ExxonMobil to boost Tapis field production in Malaysia

June 15, 2010

I understand that the Tapis EOR CPP ITB was sent out to all parties listed under the appropriate PETRONAS SWAC code, as there wasn’t any pre-screening performed. That meant that some parties were invited to bid for a project whose bank guarantee amount was similar to their yearly income.

Taken from the Oil & Gas Journal, dateline 2010-06-10:

 ExxonMobil to boost Tapis field production in Malaysia

Eric Watkins, OGJ Oil Diplomacy Editor

LOS ANGELES, June 10 — ExxonMobil Corp. said its enhanced oil recovery project at Malaysia’s Tapis field will start in 2013, with an estimated gross investment of more than $1 billion, according to a senior company executive.

“This latest contract includes commitments to implement an enhanced oil recovery project at the Tapis field and will be the first ever large-scale project of its kind in Malaysia,” said ExxonMobil senior vice-president Andrew Swiger.

“The Tapis project represents yet another major step forward to develop Malaysia’s full energy potential,” Swiger told the Asia Oil & Gas Conference.

Tapis field is one of seven mature offshore fields that ExxonMobil (78%) and state-owned Petronas (22%) have agreed to develop as part of a 25-year production-sharing contract that was finalized in June 2009.

Under the agreement, which includes provisions for the deployment of EOR and further drilling to boost output, work will be carried out on all seven fields, including Seligi, Guntong, Tapis, Semangkok, Irong Barat, Tebu, and Palas.

The Tapis oil development, which lies 190 km off Terengganu in 64 m of water, produces an extra-light, low-sulfur crude, and once served as the benchmark for pricing oil cargoes in Australia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

…

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Saturday Star 2010-06-12 – Job Opportunities

June 14, 2010

 Support me by purchasing my recommendations, or buying through my Amazon store.

First off, 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.

  • There is an opening as admin staff at Synergy. We are also looking for someone with the ability and personality to fill up the position as a permanent member of the family. To balance things out, we’re focusing on competant female applicants.
  • Shell is looking for people, though mostly in the subsurface department. Didn’t they just go through a rightsizing exercise? I guess they got rid of some deadwood, and need to fill those shoes. Visit www.shell.com/careers and select Job Search & Apply → Job Search for Professionals → Region → Asia → Malaysia. The ad asks you to quote reference DVT035C, but you know you should quote ‘razmahwata.wordpress.com’.
  • Saudi Aramco (actually Saudi Aramco Total) has a full page advert. go Visit www.satorp.com.
  • Wow, Dayang Enterprise Sdn Bhd (known affectionately as Dayang to us Esso old timers) is looking for a mess of people. I congratulate them on winning whatever support contract that requires so many people.  Apply here or  here. Or snail mail before 18th June to HR Manager, Dayang Enterprise Sdn Bhd, Sublot 5-10, Lot 46, Block 10, Jalan Taman Raja (Hilltop), Miri Concession Land District, P.O. Box 1134, 98000 Miri, Sarawak.
  • Optimal (tagline Optimise your Career Potential) is looking for a Production Technician. Hmmm, do you Kertehians want to apply? Visit their website, or apply here.
  • Expro (“Well Flow Management”) is looking for a Operator / Senior Operator Well Testing, Drill Stem Test (DST) Operator. Apply here.
  • SPIE is looking for a expeditor and buyer (cool, one to cut a PO, the other to chase up, kinda like a tag team). visit their site to apply.

Going back to the basics of chemical engineering, here are some texts I referred to, in an attempt to grasp the fundamentals of chem eng back in my Part I and Part II days. Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering, An Introduction to Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer: With Applications in Chemical and Mechanical Process Engineering (out of print, written by one of my lecturers). Introductory texts to Gas Processing would be John M Campbell’s Gas Conditioning and Processing V. 1: The Basic Principles, Gas Conditioning and Processing V. 2: The Equipment Modules, which you get if you attend the course.

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