M’SIA TO BE AS RICH AS NORWAY? FORGET IT – Umno’s racist, corrupt ways will PREVENT IT

April 2, 2014

If you don’t like the title, send brickbats to the Malaysia Chronicle. And if you read the whole article, you realise the title is link bait.

Dateline 2014-02-23:

Norway is oil rich. It is a very cold country and oil is its greatest resource. Norway is also known as the Land of Millionaires – not only because the national wealth is go great but also because its petroleum revenues have been so well managed and treasured by its governments through the decades that the money have trickled down to the ordinary folk.

There is little wastage or leakage through corruption or inefficient policies that cause market incompetency and uncompetitiveness – for example in countries such as Malaysia, where huge amounts of money have been siphoned out – almost a trillion ringgit over the past decade according to the Global Financial Integrity.

Malaysia is also oil rich. But the great majority of its 28 million people are poor and the greatest wealth is held by perhaps as little as 5% of the population. Sad to say the divide between the rich in Malaysia and the not-rich is growing alarmingly wider by the day. This is due to the policies promulgated by Prime Minister Najib Razak’s Umno party which has ruled the country since 1957. The policies have been widely criticized as being flawed and designed to mask massive corruption by the elite leaders in the guise of helping the predominant ethnic group in the country – the Malays.


PTT cancels Malaysia venture Projects in China and Indonesia to go ahead

April 1, 2014

Investment interruptus? Not a good sign for Pengerang.

Dateline 2014-02-22, Bangkok Post:

The SET-listed PTT Global Chemical Plc (PTTGC), Thailand’s largest petrochemical producer, has decided to cancel its US$200-million petrochemical project in Malaysia due to lower-than-expected returns.

Through a joint venture with the Malaysian national oil and gas company Petronas and Japan’s Itochu Corporation, the downstream petrochemical project in Pengerang, Johor state, is set to produce polyol and poly carbonate for the automotive parts industry.

The three investment partners signed a “head of agreement” in Malaysia in May 2012.

Bowon Vongsinudom, PTTGC’s chief executive and president, yesterday said the feasibility study showed that the project has Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of less than 15%.

”That IRR is not justified under our benchmarked investment return,” he said.


Saturday Star 2014-03-29 – Job Opportunities

March 31, 2014

Happy Vote IEM Council Ballot day (Closing date is this weekend).

Buy my recommendations, or through my Amazon store. Where are those corporate sponsors? Or throw donations at me. I need RM360 to get The Star ePaper

  • I’m looking for a senior process engineer, 7+ years experience. Also looking for technical safety persons, metering / measurement engineers and other seniors you think will catch my eye.
  • Qatar Petroleum International is looking for people for it’s Mega Grass roots Refinery / Petrochemical / Fertilizer Projects. Examples of jobs are Senior Planning Engineer, Snr Project Development Engineer – HSSE, Lead Process Development Engineer. Apply here or visit the website.
  • Carigali Hess is looking for offshore technicians. Come walking to the KL Convention Center, on 1st and 2nd April, 2014. Send your cv here,  with a detailed resume stating references, expected remuneration, contact telephone and email address, before 7 December, 2013.
  • Hey, is the section really short this week?

Here’s a quick list of tech podcasts I follow:

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!

Since Sir Terry Pratchett has a new volume out, here’s an opportunity to complete your collection :

  

Raising Steam (Discworld)DodgerSnuff (Discworld)

The IEM has a coffee table book out, Engineering Heritage of Malaysia (no, it is not Datuk Seri Samy Vellu’s bio). Visit here for details.


Murphy mulls US$2b-US$3b sale of M’sian assets

March 30, 2014

Dateline 2014-02-21, The Star:

Spurred by the recent sale of Newfield Exploration Co’s Malaysian operations, American oil major Murphy Oil Corp is looking to hive off a 30% stake in its oil and gas (O&G) assets here at a price tag of US$2bil-US$3bil (RM6.62bil-RM9.93bil), sources said.

A sale by Murphy is potentially more lucrative than the one agreed between Newfield and SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd last year for US$898mil (RM2.97bil), given its much larger production and reserves, O&G executives told StarBiz.

Several parties have expressed interest, including Houston-based Coastal Energy Co,a firm linked to Malaysian investor Taek Jho Low.


Malaysia’s OIL WEALTH must be controlled by Parliament – Nurul

March 29, 2014

Nah, use minyak as your personal piggy bank.

Dateline 2014-02-20, Malaysia Chronicle:

An opposition MP has proposed setting up a sovereign wealth fund to prevent the government in power from abusing Malaysia’s oil riches as a personal piggy bank.

Compared to oil-rich Norway which today has the richest sovereign wealth fund in the world at RM2.7 trillion, PKR MP Nurul Izzah Anwar lamented the fact that Malaysia’s equivalent oil fund, the Petronas-backed Kumpulan Wang Amanah Negara (Kwan), only has RM5.43 billion.

Nurul asked where did Malaysia’s oil wealth go, considering that Petronas had declared an accumulated profit of more than RM700 billion since its inception some 40 years back.

“Petronas cannot continue to serve as a private fund for the prime minister and the cabinet, with the use of nearly 40 percent of the revenue generated by the petroleum revenue in the government budget, compared with Norway which only allows four percent to be used.

 


Mokhzani Reduces SapuraKencana Stake After Malaysian Merger

March 28, 2014

Hey, hey.

Dateline 2014-02-18, Bloomberg:

Mokhzani Mahathir, a son of former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, sold part of his stake in SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd. (SAKP), the country’s biggest oil and gas services company, keeping his share above 10 percent.

Some 190.3 million shares in SapuraKencana were traded off market yesterday at 4.30 ringgit each, amounting to 818.3 million ringgit ($247.8 million), according to data from the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange. Mokhzani and family of the late Chong Hin Loon were sellers of the block, the Star newspaper reported today, citing people it didn’t identify.


Petikan dari ‘Pantang di Cabar’

March 27, 2014

Tentang cabaran:

Satu lagi tekanan untuk mencabar kedudukan para pelopor PETRONAS dalam pelbagai rundingan diantara mereka dengan Syarikat Minyak Antarabangsa ialah dengan mencetuskan kekurangan bekalan disel dan kerosin di seluruh Negara secaran tersusun mulai tahun 1976.

Dapatkan buku ini di sini.


ExxonMobil Subsidiaries In Malaysia Appoint New Chairman

March 27, 2014

Congratulations, SKY.

Dateline 2014-02-16, Bernama:

See Kok Yew has been appointed as the President of ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc (EMEPMI) and Chairman of the ExxonMobil Subsidiaries in Malaysia with effect from yesterday.

In a statement today, The ExxonMobil Subsidiaries in Malaysia said See succeeded J. Hunter Farris who will relocate to Houston and assume the position as the new Vice-President, Global Engineering of ExxonMobil Production Company.

Prior to his appointment, See was a Production Manager for ExxonMobil Production Company businesses in the US Lower 48, based in Houston, Texas.

See started his career with EMEPMI in 1990 and held various technical, supervisory and management positions in Kerteh, Terengganu, and in Kuala Lumpur.

 


Kampung Halaman 03

March 26, 2014

Where do you think this is?


ExxonMobil Announces First Production From Damar Gas Development

March 25, 2014

Dateline 2014-02-13, The WSJ:

Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) today announced the start of natural gas production at the Damar field off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. ExxonMobil subsidiary, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc., has a 50 percent interest in the project.

The Damar field has a projected capacity of 200 million cubic feet of gas per day. ExxonMobil and joint-venture partner Petronas Carigali Sdn. Bhd. have planned a total of 16 development wells for the platform.