Sabah’s O&G industry needs 25,000 skilled workers: UMS

December 24, 2015

Dateline 2015-11-20, Daily Express:

Sabah’s oil and gas industry needs about 25,000 skilled workers at a high-end level right up to managerial level. Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) Faculty of Engineering Dean Prof. Dr Rosalam Sarbatly, who disclosed this, said there is a huge shortage of skilled manpower in the industry as several oil and gas projects in the State have to import such workers from overseas to cater to their manpower needs.

“The percentage of locals with those high-end skills for the oil and gas industry in Sabah is very small whereby we are lacking local manpower in high-tech skills such as those concerning seismic and underwater tasks.

“However, about 70 per cent of locals are in the low-end technical skills like blasting, painting and coating.

“That is why UMS came into the picture and is collaborating with certain bodies that issue internationally recognised certifications so as to address the shortage in high-tech skills,” he said.

…

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Marketing Rounds – PETRONAS SUS Rant

December 23, 2015

<rant>

Why does the PETRONAS Supplier Self Service portal only run properly under an Internet Explorer browser? In compatibility mode? Hating Linux and Android much?

PETRONAS, the 201o’s are asking for you return your copy of IE8, and start using HTML5. IGL will be able to provide front end conversion services.

</rant>

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Shout Out – Two-Day Course On SIL Training for Team Members – A Practical Approach

December 22, 2015

My technical division will be hosting a 2 day course on the 12th and 13th January, 2016. It is worth 13 CPD points, and held at Wisma IEM. Since I’m giving it, I expect hoards will have to be turned away at the gates. And it’s a big room, so I need to fill the seats. It is two days, ignore the typo.

In the Layer of Protection methodology, a Safety Instrumented Function (SIF) designed to eliminate the cause of a risk or minimize the consequence of an event. The expectation of the SIF’s reliability to perform upon demand must be defined so that it is designed appropriately. The Safety Integrity Level (SIL) study is a tool used this.

This full day course is designed to educate participants in the SIL process from the perspective of a SIL team member. It is meant to provide both instruction and workshop sessions so that the participants:

  • Are familiar with the concept of ‘risk’
  • Are familiar with the theory and terminology behind Layers of Protection, SIS, SIF, SIL and LOPA
  • Are familiar with the different SIL methodologies: risk graph, risk matrix, LOPA.
  • Have expectations as to what the SIL workshop will (and won’t) provide.
  • Understand what deliverables can be expected from a SIL workshop.
  • Have the opportunity to participate in SIL exercise in a safe environment.Opportunity to share SIL experiences.

Wata has 19 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, in both design and operations.

Register here, or download the form here.

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Driving PETRONAS

December 22, 2015

What mega projects?

Dateline 2015-11-15, NST:

PETRONAS president and group chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin often talked about the need for oil and gas companies to “recalibrate” themselves in the midst of the oil and gas price doldrums.

With the global energy market outlook remaining hazy, companies, including Petronas, have to stick with a prudent and conservative budget. Managing cash flow is the main priority.

Announcing Petronas’s third-quarter financial results last week, the affable Wan Zul was frank when speaking about the challenges facing Petronas and the industry. \

But, did Petronas overextend itself with three mega oil and gas projects, as some have suggested?

Analysts and senior oil executives disagree, saying Petronas needs to invest for the future to take advantage of any industry upturn.

…

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Saturday Star 2015-12-19– Job Opportunities

December 21, 2015

Woo Hoo, Star Wars (enough said). Donate to your favourite charity (me), buy my recommendations, or through my Amazon store. Or get the Young Turks series (all 4 books). 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.

  • I’m looking for jobs for 1Q2016. Send me your POs.
  • An associate of mine is looking for a technical safety part-time adviser. 2 Associates, actually. Needs to be needle sharp with respect to QRAs, and HSE safety cases. A calm demeanor to handle nonsensical questions from young engineers helps as well. Either that, or a drinking problem.
  • Nothing much in the news. Were you expecting jobs galore? Have you not seent the number of layoffs last week?

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? Anything halal in Bali

During these trying times, perhaps you should focus on self improvement. The following are a good set of books to start automating your uncertainty budget tables.

The Cartoon Guide to Statistics, Hands-On Start to Wolfram Mathematica, Doubt-Free Uncertainty In Measurement: An Introduction for Engineers and Students

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Malaysian oil and gas players earnings at risk

December 20, 2015

Dateline 2015-11-13, The Star:

Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) poor performance and sober prediction for the oil and gas industry next year spell a challenging outlook for the industry players with earnings at risk.

Analysts are underweight on the sector for 2016, with some pointing out that preservation of cashflow would be key as Petronas cuts down on its spending.

UOB KayHian Research, which has an “underweight” call on the sector, said Petronas would need to continuously readjust its capital priorities, which might further defer upstream activities.

…

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Malaysia’s slashed oil dividend is still too high

December 19, 2015

Dateline 2015-11-12, Reuters:

Austerity measures at Malaysia’s oil giant will need to go further. Low oil prices have forced Petronas to cut the dividend it will pay next year to the government by almost 40 percent. That’s painful for a country that depends on the state-owned group for around one third of federal revenue. But unless it takes wider action, Petronas will still need to dip into its cash reserves to fund the commitment.

Petronas has decided to lower its payout to 16 billion ringgit ($3.7 billion) in 2016 after Brent crude averaged just $50 per barrel during the quarter that ended in September. To put that in perspective, the group’s total contribution to state coffers -including corporate taxes and other royalties – added up to around 68 billion ringgit in 2014.

…

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MALAYSIA’S PETRONAS SAYS COMMITTED TO CAPEX PLANS DESPITE CONTINUING CHALLENGES

December 18, 2015

Dateline 2015-11-12, Platts:

Malaysia’s state-owned Petronas remained committed to its capital expenditure plans even though it anticipated continuing challenges due to bearish market sentiment, CEO Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said Wednesday.

The projects that the company will focus its capital investment on include the Refinery And Petrochemical Integrated Development project in the southern Johor state; the Pacific North West LNG Project in Canada; LNG Train 9 in Bintulu; and the two floating LNG projects being constructed in South Korea.

“These capex projects are investments for the long term, and we are set on seeing them through successfully to ensure Petronas’ sustainability well into the future,” Wan Zulkiflee said in a statement while announcing the company’s Q3 2015 results.

…

 

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IEM Shout Out – Half Day Workshop on Shell and Tube Exchanger Thermal Design

December 17, 2015

My technical division will be hosting a 1/2 day seminar on the 16th January, 2015. It is worth 3.5 CPD points, and held at Wisma IEM. The course will be presented by IIr. Anwar Ahmad.

During this Shell and Tube Heat Exchanger Thermal Design course, there will be overview on the thermal design for designing shell and tube heat exchanger by considering design, operational, and maintenance perspective. The design of the heat exchanger is extremely important, as it is the key element of a heat-exchanged system. This is not only on the desired temperature to achieve during operation but also when considering the optimum design prior procuring an exchanger. Furthermore, properly designed heat exchanger can reduce the turn-down time for maintenance as no frequent cleaning is required while operating the plant or platform. Technologies involved in this thermal technology will be discussed during the workshop to highlight the importance and advantages when designing and operating shell and tube heat exchanger (STHE).

Ir. Anwar Ahmad is a registered Professional Engineer with Board of Engineer (BEM), Corporate Member with Institute of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM), Corporate Member with Institute of Chemical Engineers, UK (IChemE), Chartered Engineer from Engineering Council, UK with more than eleven (11) years experiences in process engineering in oil and gas industry, mainly in design with engineering firm and operation for technical support during turn around.

Register here, or download the form here.

2 Comments | engineering, Malaysia, oil and gas | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
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Diving Photos – Miri

December 16, 2015

Some photos from the deep, off Miri. New camera, last one drowned. Any donations to ‘fund Wata’s dive camera’?

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