From Rueters – PETRONAS says to maintain govt payouts

December 19, 2009

Taken from Rueters, dateline 2009-12-16:

Malaysia’s state oil company PETRONAS [PETR.UL] will maintain its annual 30 billion ringgit ($8.79 billion) dividends to the government despite prospects of weaker profits and significant investment outlays in Iraq.

Malaysia is facing its largest budget deficit in more than 20 years. It currently depends on Petronas for nearly half of government revenue.

The Edge Financial daily quoted Petronas President and Chairman Hassan Marican as saying the company’s profits for financial year ending in March 2010 will not be as good as last year because prices and sales volumes were down.

This probably came about from the (wishy-washy) government’s fear of upsetting the people, as an article from The Star, dateline 2009-12-10 said:

Lower oil prices will limit royalty to Government

PETALING JAYA: Lower crude oil prices that hit Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (PETRONAS) bottomline hard this year are likely to limit the national oil firm’s ability to repeat the huge payout to the Government last year.

Recent official statements indicated that Petronas’ petroleum payments to the Government are expected to fall between 14% and 19% in the financial year ending March 31, 2010 (FY10) to between RM60bil and RM64bil.

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

Looking for a Technical Writer

December 16, 2009

I’m looking for one.  Respond in your comment with a summary of your experience.

If you need to ask what one is, you needn’t apply.

7 Comments | business opportunity, engineering, oil and gas | Permalink
Posted by Wata

From The Star – 20-litre ruling

December 16, 2009

From the Star, dateline 2009-12-16:

The ban on the sale of petrol and diesel over 20 litres to foreign cars within a radius of 50km from any point of entry into the country will take effect today.

Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the ban, which was aimed at preventing the smuggling of petrol and diesel, would be in place until a new mechanism for the management of oil subsidy is implemented in May next year.

“Directives have been issued to all petrol stations in the stipulated areas on the new ruling. We have also issued notices to all foreign-registered vehicles in the country informing them of the new regulation,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday.

With the ruling, he said, only Singapore-registered vehicles were allowed to leave Malaysia with more than 20 litres in their tanks as the authorities in the republic had already imposed a ruling that all vehicles crossing its borders must have their tanks at least three-quarters full of fuel.

I’ve always thought that the petrol stations whose main source of income (and the most vocal in complaint) is selling subsidised fuel to foreign cars, should be considered to be the same category as raiders of our national coffer. Think about it, they are colluding to give away a subsidy meant for the rakyat (at the cost of say RM1/liter) to foreigners. Where do you think that money came from, and whether it is better spent here at home?

You can subscribe to an online version of the paper at the Bluehyppo site, follow links to e-browse.

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

Saturday Star 2009-12-12 – Job Opportunities

December 15, 2009

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.

  • Interesting one: Orlean Invest West Africa Ltd. Not looking for engineers, but a new face to the classified adds. You can apply here.
  • Oryx GTL has a full page spread. There are a whole slew of positions: Head Eng, Head Eng Support, Senior Metallurgical Engineer, Senior Proc Eng, Head Opns Reliability, Snr Process Control Eng, Cost Eng, Safety Eng. You can apply here.

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Posted by Wata

Saturday Star 2009-12-05 – Job Opportunities

December 7, 2009

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, you are definitely WildCat fodder.

  • Saudi Aramco and Total have created SATORP, I see. They are looking for mass balance technicians – snr, midterm pilot panner, process eng, performance control engineer, process control eng, scheduling eng, oil accounting eng… hey, looks like they need quite a few people in the hydrocarbon allocation department. Apply to Melorita
  • Tompel is looking for a senior drilling supervisor.

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

The SOGE Story – Out and About in Miri

December 5, 2009

I’ve been in Miri for a week, attempting to address 97 HAZOP nodes in 5 days. As you can imagine, I couldn’t hit that target, though I did manage 60+ nodes.

Here are some photos of the Saberkas pasar malam. Yes, the theme is food.

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

IEM – Value Improvement Program

December 5, 2009

Here are some photos I took during the talk held in conjunction with the Oil, Gas and Mining Technical Division’s AGM.

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

From the Star: Talisman Scholar Visits Offshore

December 3, 2009

Taken from the Star, dateline 2009-11-29

WORKING on an oil rig isn’t something many would relish, but Gan Hui Ling, 23, enjoyed her stay and made full use of her offshore experience.

Spending a week aboard the Bunga Raya Platform – located in the overlapping maritime zone of Malaysia and Vietnam – the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Bioprocess Chemical Engineering final-year student familiarised herself with the processes and equipment aboard the rig.

Though thankful that she wasn’t claustrophobic, Hui Ling’s only gripe was the rig’s limited space, which raised some accommodation problems.

Hui Ling says that the scholarship award gives her more motivation for her final year.

Her one week on the rig was part of her internship with Talisman Malaysia Limited, the national division of the oil and gas company from Calgary, Canada.

…

We hope that this inspires more lady engineers to break into oil and gas. Read ‘accomodation problems’ as ‘a four bunk room had to be emptied for one lady’, or have they changed policies offshore already?

You can subscribe to an online version of the paper at the Bluehyppo site, follow links to e-browse.

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

Saturday Star 2009-11-28 – Job Opportunities

December 2, 2009

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, you are definitely Cylon fodder.

  • My sources: Hess is looking for Senior Mechanical Engineers. Bribe me, and I’ll deign to look at your CVs. Put me in another tax bracket, and I may forward your CVs on.
  • Synergy is looking for safety engineers. Visit the Synergy websites (Jakarta and KL) for contact details.
  • Talisman is looking fora Mechanical & Piping Eng. Apply here, and visit their site.
  • Lundin advertises again! Yes, I purposely put these two items next to each other. If you’re an old time like me, you appreciate the irony. They are looking for a Drilling Manager and 2 Drilling Engineers. What, they plan to give the engineers two sharp sticks, and be quick about it?  Apply here, and visit their site.

I really can’t recommend any food places this week. I’m in Miri, and nothing local catches my attention. For those knowing me, it would mean the places I’ve eaten till now must really be blah. C’mon people, send me your contact details and take me (and my family) out for dinner!

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

News – Award of Malikai to MMC-Amec

November 29, 2009

I know that this is old news, but I didn’t want to be chased by lawyers and phrases such as non-disclosure, confidentiality undertaking, and so forth. The news has already broken here.

Congratulations to MMC-Amec for winning the Shell Malikai FEED contract. I wish you all the best, and hope that any spillover will come my way. Cheques to Synergy Oil & Gas Engineering Sdn Bhd, please.

6 Comments | business opportunity, Malaysia, oil and gas | Permalink
Posted by Wata

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