Shorter Work Weeks

June 27, 2008

An associate of mine mentioned that Ranhill WorleyParsons has implemented a 4 1/2 day work week. You work an hour more from Monday – Thursday, and skedaddle Friday afternoon.

IGL Perth did (does?) a similar thing. You work an extra hour for 7 days in a fortnight, and get the 8th day free.

The above are examples of companies putting that extra bit in to nab the scarce experienced engineering resources that are floating out there, and promoting intangible benefits to entice them.

But, give an engineer extra hours in the day, and she’ll try to work overtime. Intangible benefits only go so far, gas for the car isn’t sold for smiles and goodwill. Heck, I’ve seen an engineers’ timesheet where he worked 18 – 22 hours a day. And he was an expat. Please work for someone who will sign off a timesheet with those figures.

1 Comment | Malaysia, oil and gas | Permalink
Posted by Wata

Fuel Saving Tips – Commentary

June 26, 2008

There’s this email being circulated touting the best way to fill up your car. You know the one, giving advice such as:

“ONLY BUY OR FILL UP YOUR CAR OR BIKKIE IN THE EARLY MORNING WHEN THE GROUND TEMPERATURE IS STILL COLD.”

I would suggest you visit snopes.com, and read their take on these tips. In response to the above, their comment is that fuel is stored in underground tanks, which act as giant thermos bottles. This, coupled with the the observation that below-ground temperatures don’t change much during the course of a day, leads me to conclude that there is no need to join the dawn patrol when planning when to fill up your car.

From an engineering standpoint, here are other things to think about:

  • The flow of fuel from the storage tank to the car should be sheltered from the sun so that fuel isn’t heated as it travels, and produces vapour (and less liquid) at the nozzle.
  • If the fuel goes into the underground tank hot (midday fuel delivery?) then it will probably stay hot no matter what time of day you fill up.
  • You might want to ensure your car fuel tank isn’t hot so as to vapourise fuel as soon as it comes in. Is this a reason to pay the premium for covered parking?

I’d agree with snopes’ conclusion:

“…The bottom line is that there are much easier and better ways of improving the efficiency of your car (and thus of saving you money at the pump) than the tips outlined above. Particularly important is proper maintenance, including engine tune-ups, wheel alignments, tire pressure checks, and filter replacement…”

If there were any tips to follow, follow the ones on being a more efficient driver.

 

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

Offshore Living – Food

June 25, 2008

As I go through my exclusive collection of photos, I am reminded that there are not many luxuries out there. One of life’s simple pleasures that your company can splurge on is food. This was taken during Ramadhan offshore, many moons ago.

Offshore buffet

There used to be barter trade between the platform folk and fisherman who were fishing nearby. For a hot meal or three, the fisherfolk would send up some of their choicest fish, to be cooked per request. To get a closer look at their catch, the platform folks would even use binoculars, as they were at 30m elevation looking down on a small 10m boat.

If you want to irritate oil and gas people who stay offshore for weeks on end, serve them bad food, lukewarm food and not enough food.

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Posted by Wata

The Kerteh Subang Commute

June 22, 2008

Did you know that if you were Petronas or EMEPMI staff, you can take advantage of a chartered flight between Subang and Kerteh? It shaves off hours from the usual KLIA-Kuantan-Kerteh route. It leaves Kerteh at 7:00, leaves Subang at 8:30. The afternoon flight leaves Kerteh at 4:30, and leaves Subang at 6:00. As a former colleague of mine says, it’s travelling during gentleman hours.

No inflight movie, and no refreshments. The reading material is a bit thin, something about exits. Did I mention that 2 people sit abreast? You do get a personel safety briefing by the flight captain.

A commercial flight used to travel between Kerteh and Subang, Pelangi Air. Rumour has it that it went down due to mismanagement.

 So, a business opportunity. Maybe work with Awana Genting for packages, and promote Pulau Tenggol. Actually, don’t promote Tenggol, I want to keep the diving crowd to the ‘need to know’ basis.

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

EMEPMI’s Own Web Page

June 18, 2008

I just found that ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc has its own web page. Go visit them.

1 Comment | Malaysia, oil and gas | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Wata

Pre-Owned Equipment Market?

June 17, 2008

If you scan through the TCE, you notice that there is a second hand equipment market in the chemical industry. How come there’s no such market for the Malaysian oil and gas industry? We have had assets that have been transferred wholesale from foreign operators to PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB), and not without a lot of grumble as to the shoddy state of them. You don’t hear of dealers flying to platforms, and purchasing equipment by the lot (note: please don’t try to reuse pressure gauges. Wellhead christmas trees should be good, though. And don’t think about reusing a 10-year old DCS).

I believe IPC tried to do that, purchasing off the shelf (read: second hand / already fabricated) equipment to develop acerage off Semenanjung Malaysia, but that was the only attempt I heard.

What could be stopping the market? Maybe:

  • Cheaper to fabricate then to import. Knowing our tax structure, and concerns about Malaysia being a dumping ground (customs: “You want to import WHAT?”). Not to mention loss of local jobs.
  • No ready source of second hand equipment for O&G purposes. Most of the old oil platforms have been transferred to PCSB, though there are some that have been decommissioned (one’s an artificial reef at the Kenyalang dive site off Miri). Mobile Production Units (MOPUs) are designed to be reused, though the key word is ‘designed’. I guess their paper trail is centred around such use.
  • Too difficult to recertify equipment? How do you recert pressure vessels? Do you need the original fabrication drawings, procedures and certificates, or do 100% non destructive testing, and pressure test the dang thing?
  • Insurance companies not willing to cover the costs.
  • Just not cool enough for companies whose revenue dwarfs GDP of countries.

 

 

2 Comments | diving, engineering, Malaysia, oil and gas | Tagged: , | Permalink
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Radios and Perforation Activities

June 12, 2008

One thing I always wondered was why radio communication is banned during a perforation exercise. For those not in the know, perforation as explained by opcharlie is blasting through the production casing of a well so that hydrocarbons from the reservoir are able to make their way into the production string. Kinda like making holes in a blocked off straw so that your drink can enter the straw, and be sucked into your mouth.

Steps in perforating a production string

‘Blast’ is the correct word, as explosives are used to perforate the production casing. The triggering of the explosives is done by a remote control. There is a concern that the inadvert triggering of the explosives may be caused by radio equipment. Hence, when a perf operation is underway, no radio equipment is allowed to operate. Portable handhelds may be recalled back from personnel, and an equipment tally is performed.

What I would like to know is, how many near misses / injuries / fatalities have occured due to radio equipment triggering perf explosives? This may happen if:

  • the perf gun goes off before it enters the production string
  • permature release when it goes off before reaching the required depth.

2 Comments | engineering, oil and gas | Tagged: , | Permalink
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Oil Production – Gentle Indonesian Way

June 11, 2008

I received this presentation file. At first glance, I thought it was a hoax, putting down the level of Indonesian HSE while carrying out sophisticated oil production operations.

Turns out I was looking at it the wrong way. This is an example of creative thinking, increasing net income without increasing the normal risk Indonesians are exposed to. Now, if we could do the same thing to those dead wells in Miri. Malaysia. Heck, anyone want to join me and see if the Grand Old Lady of Miri has some spunk left in her?

1 Comment | engineering, oil and gas | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Wata

Malaysia – Cost of Natural Gas Price Increase

June 10, 2008

What’s been obvious to consumers in Malaysia is the ‘release’ of petrol (bahan bakar motor as they say in Indonesia), causing the pump cost to rise to RM2.70/l from RM1.92/l.

What I haven’t seen so much of is comments on the rise of gas prices. Here’s a summary:

  • Power producers – RM14.31/MMBTU from RM6.40/MMBTU (120% increase)
  • Industrial users, low consumers – RM24.54 from 9.40 (160%)
  • Industrial users, high consumers – RM32.56 from 11.32 (190%)

Natural gas is used as a raw material for many modern products. So, we can be sure that all chemical industries will hit the rakyat with a price increase which is independent for rising fuel costs.

I wonder how this will effect the Kawasan Industri Petroliam PETRONAS (KIPP) out there in Kerteh? Most of the plants there depend on gas feedstock, for example Petlin, Optimal,  Ethylene Malaysia, and the various companies listed below (I would link to the PETRONAS page, but it’s one of those funky frame pages). I guess a round of repricing, efficiency, retreating to core businesses, and mergers is in order.

 

Plant: Ethylene
Capacity: 400,000 TPA
Company: Ethylene Malaysia Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS, Idemitsu Petrochemicals Co Ltd, BP Chemicals
Onstream: September 1995
.
Plant: Polyethylene
Capacity: 200,000 TPA HDPE/LLDPE, 50,000 TPA Pipe compounding
Company: Polyethylene Malaysia Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS, BP Chemicals
Onstream: May 1995
.
Plant: Vinyl Chloride Monomer
Capacity: 400,000 TPA
Company: Vinyl Chloride (M) Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS
Onstream: November 2000
.
Plant: Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
Capacity: 150,000 TPA
Company: Vinyl Chloride (M) Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS
Onstream: September 2000
.
Plant: Ammonia / Syngas
Capacity: 450,000 TPA Ammonia, 325,000 TPA Syngas
Company: PETRONAS Ammonia Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS
Onstream: December 2000
.
Plant: Acetid Acid
Capacity: 400,000 TPA
Company: BP PETRONAS Acetyls Sdn Bhd
Partners: BP Amoco, PETRONAS
Onstream: November 2000
.
Plant: Aromatics
Capacity: 420,000 TPA Paraxylene, 145,000 TPA Benzene
Company: Aromatics Malaysia Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS, MJPX Co Ltd
Onstream: July 2000
.
Plant: Olefins (Second Cracker )
Capacity: 600,000 TPA Ethylene, 95,000 TPA Propylene
Company: Optimal Olefins (M) Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS, The Dow Chemical Company, Sasol Polymers Investments (Pty) Ltd
Onstream: January 2002
.
Plant: Ethylene Oxide, Ethylene Glycol
Capacity: 140,000 TPA Ethylene Oxide, 385,000 TPA Ethylene Glycols
Company: Optimal Glycols (M) Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS, The Dow Chemical Company
Onstream: February 2002
.
Plant: Ethylene Derivatives
Capacity: 30,000 TPA Ethoxylates, 75,000 TPA Ethanolamines, 60,000 TPA Glycol Ethers,140,000 TPA Butanol, 50,000 Butyl Acetate
Company: Optimal Chemicals (M) Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS, The Dow Chemical Company
Onstream: April 2002
.
Plant: Low Density Polyethylene
Capacity: 255,000 TPA LDPE
Company: Petlin (M) Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS, Sasol Polymers of South Africa, Sabic Polyethylenes B.V.
Onstream: February 2002
.

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

Camera Flash plus Flame Detection – Instant Fame

June 7, 2008

You have to be careful where you point your flash-enabled camera offshore. One method of detecting a fire on the platform is by monitoring the amount of ultraviolet (UV) light. UV is produced by flames, hence UV detection is a direct indication of a fire. However, UV is also present in sunlight (including sunlight reflected of the sea), so exposure to it might cause a false alarm. That is why UV detectors are located within enclosures, for example turbo generators (TG).

Back to flash photography. A flash produces UV radiation. So, if this is detected, the platform Fire and Gas (F&G) system will probably trip thinking there is a fire, and shutting down production.

So, suggestions are:

  • Kill the flash / autoflash mode.
  • Do not flip the flash up, for some models.
  • Tape over the flash.

 

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