Divergent Views on Optimum Oil, Gas Staff Size in Malaysia

December 11, 2015

Dateline 2015-10-28, Rigzone:

With cost reduction exerting continuous pressure on petroleum firms in the current industry downturn, companies have constantly grappled with the issue of an optimum workforce to sustain their oil and gas operations.

Recent news coverage about the industry highlighted this conundrum in Malaysia, where oil firm Royal Dutch Shell plc cut local staff as part of a move globally to rein in cost, while national oil company (NOC) Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) refrained from doing so despite facing similar headwinds due to other internal considerations.

As in other petroleum producing countries, the industry downturn in Malaysia has led to a loss of around 2,000 oil and gas jobs between January and July, or nearly 30 percent of the 6,547 being laid off in the country, local daily The Star reported Sept. 26. Workers in the industry remain vulnerable to layoffs as major petroleum firms in Malaysia could include them as part of any global cuts if oil prices do not recover.

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

Tales From the Engineering Floor – SW:TFA single ticket up for grabs

December 10, 2015

Okay, here’s a random thought.

I accidentally bought an extra ticket for SW:TFA on 17th December, 11am at TGV Setiawalk. Write down your tales from the engineering floor below, and I’ll pick one person to send the ticket to on the 15th. That gives you just enough time to schedule a ‘meeting’ on the 17th morning.

Disclaimer – I am empowered to give the ticket to whoever I deem worthy. Complaints /dev/null.

Leave a Comment » | Malaysia | Permalink
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IEM Shout Out – Half Day Workshop on Shell and Tube Exchanger Thermal Design

December 10, 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.

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Marketing Rounds – Heriot Watt

December 9, 2015

A few more pictures of my lecture, from a video cam eye view. Note the comatose audience member.

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IEM Shout Out – Pre AGM Talk on “Overview of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Industry in Malaysia

December 8, 2015

My technical division will be hosting a talk on the 12th December, 2015. It is worth 2 CPD points, and held at Wisma IEM. The talk will be presented by Ir. Ahmad Rafidi Mohayiddin. And please stay for the AGM.

Natural gas is one of the important fuels in the energy mix. Its popularity is due to its clean and efficient burning properties besides being friendly to the environment. Technological advancement in the last few decades has allowed this natural gas to be liquefied into smaller volume and transported over long distances to buyers. The world commercial trade of liquefied natural gas (LNG) started booming in the 1970’s. In Malaysia, LNG has been a significant export product of the country since the early 80’s.

The talk will provide an insight into LNG to those interested to understand what it is all about. An overview of the processes in the gas exploitation and processing into its liquid form and the infrastructures needed by the LNG sellers and the buyers will also be shared. In addition, the audience will be acquainted with the challenges facing the county’s LNG industry in the current low world oil price and the latest developments in the race to monetize stranded gas fields.

 

Ir. Ahmad Rafidi Mohayiddin is a registered Professional Engineer with the Board of Engineers, Malaysia and is the Chairman of the Oil, Gas and Mining Technical Division of IEM for session 2014/15. He graduated with a BSc. in Mechanical Engineering from Northwestern University, USA in 1994.

He has more than 20 years of work experience in the oil and gas industry. His main specialization is in the engineering design, engineering management and project management work for gas processing, gas liquefaction, gas transmission and gas metering facilities. His major projects include project management work at Gas Processing Plants 5&6 Project in Terengganu, Central Luconia E11 Platform Rejuvenation Project at offshore Sarawak, MLNG Dua Debottlenecking Project in Sarawak and the Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline Project in East Malaysia. He is currently a Project Manager at one of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) producers.

 

Register here, or download the form here.

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Posted by Wata

Saturday Star 2015-12-05– Job Opportunities

December 7, 2015

Happy Rain Week. 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? Has The Star dropped out of favour? I see more job adverts on the facebook private groups.

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? Hmm.

Seen the Episode VII trailer? Booked the theater? If you say “What is episode Vii?”, I disown you.

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

Leave a Comment » | Malaysia, oil and gas | Permalink
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Malaysia plans rule changes for listings in MOG sector

December 6, 2015

I guess this is only for PSC or PAC-type listings,

Dateline 2015-10-22, Global Capital:

The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) is fine-tuning its rules for IPOs of mineral, oil and gas exploration or extraction (MOG) firms, following in the footsteps of several bourses in the region. The proposal brings Malaysia closer to international standards for MOG listings, but has elicited mixed responses from industry participants, writes John Loh.

Malaysia’s regulator released a consultation paper on October 15 seeking feedback on proposals it hopes will better govern IPOs from the MOG sector. The move comes amid increasing interest from such companies, either for listings or reverse takeovers of listed firms.

…

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Posted by Wata

Gas Malaysia to use new regulatory framework in 2016

December 5, 2015

Dateline 2015-10-26, The Sun:

The implementation of the incentive-based regulation framework (IBR) by Gas Malaysia Bhd will take effect on Jan 1, 2016.

The IBR is a form of economic regulation aimed at incentivising Gas Malaysia for better operational and financial performance, whilst regulating the natural gas tariff.

In support of the liberalisation of the natural gas industry, which is to gradually align current piped gas towards market prices, the IBR is introduced to promote efficient resources allocation and usage, and sustainable financial performance, Gas Malaysia said.

With respect to its implementation, the IBR will first be on a trial run in 2016, following which the first regulatory period will run for the next three years from 2017 until 2019.

…

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IEM Shout Out – OGMTD 25th AGM

December 4, 2015

The Oil, Gas and Mining Technical Division AGM will be held at Wisma IEM Wisma IEM, Auditorium Tan Sri Prof. Chin Fung Kee, Third Floor

It will be held at 11am on Saturday, 12th December 2015.

Register here, and download the flyer here. A map to Wisma IEM is presented here.

My tenure as an adviser has come and gone, y’all and heckle us. We also need a quorum, and need to vote in a new secretary / treasurer.

Leave a Comment » | engineering, Malaysia, oil and gas | Tagged: , | Permalink
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Anniversary – Bhopal Disaster

December 3, 2015

Chemical Engineers never forget.

Photos.

5 Comments | Chemical | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Wata

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