Cost-cutting measures save RM3.4b for Petronas

September 29, 2016

Dateline 2016-08-17, FMT:

Malaysia’s oil giant, Petronas, has saved RM3.4 billion since embarking on cost-cutting measures in 2015 and this effort will continue even if oil prices recover.

“Through the Cost Reduction Alliance programme, we have managed to cut RM3.4 billion in terms of our costs since we started till the middle of this year,” its president and group chief executive officer, Wan Zulkifli Wan Ariffin, said.

He said this at the International Conference of Blue Ocean Strategy’s plenary session themed “Delivering High Value at Low Cost” here today.

The Cost Reduction Alliance, or Coral 2.0, is a five-year industry-wide programme from 2015 to 2019, driven by Petronas, with the aim to inculcate a cost-conscious mindset across Malaysia.

Wan Zulkifli said the transformation kicked in when oil and gas companies, including Petronas, were hit by tumbling prices from 2014.

 


Travelling Offshore

September 28, 2016

Nowadays, I understand that travel to offshore platforms is by boat. For Seligi, that’s a 12 hour daylight (to) or nighttime (from the platform) cruise. Seasickness bugging you much?


Two dead in ammonia leak at Petronas plant

September 27, 2016

Dateline 2016-08-16, The Malay Mail:

An ammonia leak at a Petronas plant in Sipitang, near here this morning killed two workers and injured three others.

Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG) confirmed the incident at 9.30am this morning at the Petronas Chemicals Fertiliser Sabah Sdn Bhd (PCFSSB) plant in the Sabah Ammonia Urea project in the Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial Park some 140km from here.

“Five PCFSSB contractors were affected. The company, however, regrets to inform that two fatalities have been reported. The other three affected personnel have received appropriate medical treatment,” it said in a statement here.

“Our Emergency Response Team was immediately mobilised and the situation has been contained,” it  also said, adding that there was no immediate threat to the surrounding communities or environment.

..

 


Saturday Star 2016-09-24– Job Opportunities

September 26, 2016

Happy Stay at Home Week

Donate to your favorite charity (me), buy my recommendations, or through my Amazon store. Or get the Young Turks series (3 books until I can get YTP republished). Where are those corporate sponsors? Or throw donations at me, my camera dive case flooded, and I need a new replacement. Heck, if you want to send me a Canon 5D Mk III plus dive case, I will not say no.

  • A mate of mine is looking for a MD/EngMan type person to help run his engineering company (the main business is skid manufacturing). He can’t handle the work volume, so you know that his oil & gas company is bucking the trend, and has a bright future ahead. If I know you, send your CV’s to me. If I don’t know you, send your CV along anyway, but note I will contact your references. I am not getting a commission for this ad, you know.
  • I have a feeling that The Star isn’t the preferred O&G job recruitment portal now. I see more adverts via social media. What do you think, is it a step change that the papers need to embrace?
  • I’m looking for jobs for 4Q2016. Send me your POs.

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!

Food choice of the week? Any weight loss diet.

Let’s get a bit nostalgic with the book selection.

Wetter, Louder, Stickier: A Baby Blues Collection (Baby Blues Scrapbook), BBXX: Baby Blues: Decades 1 & 2, Bedlam


Sarawak DCM calls first meet with Petronas fruitful

September 25, 2016

Dateline 2016-08-15, Malay Mail:

Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said he had a fruitful meeting with officials from state oil firm Petronas on complaints against alleged discrimination of locals.

“The meeting is productive, and we will meet again this Saturday to iron out on all the issues to the finest details,” Uggah said in a brief statement handed over to the waiting reporters at Wisma Bapa Malaysia.

Uggah was accompanied by Sarawak State Secretary Tan Sri Morshidi Ghani in the private meeting while Petronas was represented by its executive vice president and chief executive officer (upstream) Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib.

Also in the Petronas delegation were senior vice president of group human resource management, Datuk Raiha Azni Abdul Rahman, and senior vice president of corporate strategy Adif Zulkifli.


Borneo oil royalty push sign of Putrajaya’s strength, not weakness

September 24, 2016

We look forward to an election right after this is all resolved.

Dateline 2016-08-12, Malay Mail:

The renewed demands by Sabah and Sarawak for oil royalties and greater devolution of powers is prompted by the federal government’s growing influence rather than any perceived vulnerability, said state leaders and analysts.

Despite controversies linked to Putrajaya, they said the federal government’s powers have not been reduced, which required both east Malaysian states to be more vocal in demanding a return of the rights they said were due to them according to the Malaysia Agreement 1963.

“It has nothing to do with Putrajaya being weak or strong,” Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Masing told Malay Mail Online.

“Sarawak is led by the leader (Tan Sri Adenan Satem) who finally realises that we have been short-changed all this while,” Parti Rakyat Sarawak (PRS) president said while declining to state who has short-changed Sarawak.

 


Shell Malaysia pledges RM125mil for social investment

September 23, 2016

Dateline 2016-08-11, The Star:

Shell Malaysia will invest RM125mil over the next 10 years to fund Malaysian talent innovation and competitiveness, says Chairman Datuk Iain Lo.

“We still have much to contribute towards developing Malaysia’s energy resources and exploration, demonstrate our commitment to the local oil and gas industry.

“That is not all. We can think of no better or fulfilling way to make the future together with Malaysia than through the exponential impact of individual Malaysians,” he said.

 


Petronas’ claims of meritocracy hold no water: SPG

September 22, 2016

Are they saying the PETRONAS does kakistocracy?

Dateline 2016-08-11, Borneo Post:

Suarah Petroleum Group (SPG) said national oil corporation Petronas had forgotten its role and Sarawak’s sacrifice in making it a Fortune 500 company while its employment records contrasted sharply with its claims of meritocracy.

Speaking on behalf of SPG, its media communications officer Yusuf Abdul Rahman said Petronas’ claims that it’s latest manpower restructuring exercise was based on merit were off the mark and that there were plenty of qualified Sarawakians around.

He said Petronas owed a big chunk of its success to Sarawak; since its inception to a multi-national corporation listed in Fortune 500.

“Sarawakians are not asking or begging for jobs which they don’t deserve. All Sarawakians want is a fair chance. If that is denied to them because of pro-West Malaysian Petronas bias, then it has to answer to the state,” he said.

He accused Petronas in its quest to become a multi-national corporation of having forgotten its role as a national oil company and that citing meritocracy was only an excuse.

 


Offshore Toilet Stop

September 21, 2016

The legacy things we have on our offshore assets (Malaysia’s, not mine).

Toilet Stop


IEM Shout Out – 2016/10 One Day Course on Demolition Using Explosives

September 20, 2016

My technical division will be hosting a 1 day course on the 20th October, 2016, presented by Brig General Mustapha Omar, Ir. Look Keman Sahari and Ir. Dr. Mohamed Alias Yusof. It is worth 6.5 CPD points, and held at Wisma IEM. I expect that you register using your actual names, not your Pokemon handles.

Malaysia is considered a young country and rapidly developing. We see many new high rise building coming up even on small plot of land in city area. This is due to high cost of land. However, anything that goes up some day, sometimes it will have to come down. It can be due to aging, high cost of maintenance, availability of new technology, new planning by the owner or authority or whatever other reasons. It is very rare when forwarding development plan, the subject of the need for demolition later is ever considered. Bringing down a building or any structure by mechanical means for example will subject the neighbours to vibration, dust noise and numerous other dangers to them for a long time. It may even take several months. There are also incidents where demolition workers were injured and some were killed in line of duty. Demolition by using explosive may require the services of civil/structural engineer working together with the blasters and blasting engineer. The preparation may take months to study the structural plan of the building to be taken down, to survey the surrounding area and plan how to mitigate the effect of airblast, fragmentation, dust and ground vibration.

Hj Look Keman bin Sahari graduated in mining engineering from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland in 1979. He joined the Mines Department initially as Geotechnical engineer specialising in Slope engineering particularly technical investigation on slope failures. He later joined the Inspectorate division of the Department until retirement in 1996. In 1990 he continued his studies at Royal Military College of Science, Cranfield University, England and obtained MSc in Explosives Ordnance Engineering. His interest was then on the use of Shape Charge in the industry. On retirement he worked as Consultant Engineer in the use of explosive for mining, quarrying and construction. He had also served as expert witness in control blasting in Arbitration. As a committee member of IEM Training Board he had attended many courses particularly on Geotechnical Engineering, Health and Safety, forensic engineering and also tunnelling as Auditor. He is a Professional Engineer with Practicing Certificate and a Fellow of IEM. He had also given lecture on explosives application at IEM and Institute of Quarrying, Malaysia. He is also a qualified Shotfirer..

Brig General Mustapha bin Omar is a qualified Ammunition Technical Officer and had rose through the rank in the Malaysian Army  to become to Chief Ammunition Technical officer He is  an expert in the application of military explosives including demolition. He also had a Diploma in Industrial Management from UKM in 1993 and subsequently Bachelor in Business Administration from UPM in 2001. In 2002-2003 he further his studies at Royal Military College of Science, Cranfield University at MSc level in Explosives Ordnance Engineering. He is also knowledgeable in the use of commercial explosives and had attended a Shotfirer Course organised by Institute of Quarrying, Malaysia. He is currently a Senior Research Officer at STRIDE ( Institute Penyelidekan Sains Teknologi Pertahanan)

Associate Professor Ir. Dr. Mohamed Alias bin Yusof obtained his Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering from UTM in 2002, MSc in Project Management from UITM in 2005 and PhD in Civil Engineering in 2012 from University Pertahanan National Malaysia. He is also a Professional Engineer registered with the Board of Engineer. Dr Alias specialises in the Blast Effect on Structure. He is also knowledgeable in Commercial and Military explosives and had also attended course in Explosives Engineering at Royal Military College of Science, Cranfield University He also attended Shotfirer Course and Blast Vibration, Monitoring and ControlCourse at Institute of Quarrying Malaysia.

Register here, or download the form here.