Why Malaysia’s Malay business lobby is obsessed with Petronas

January 28, 2014

Dateline 2014-01-11, The Malay Mail:

As chief of Malaysia’s sole Fortune 500 company which accounts for nearly a quarter of the country’s revenue, Petronas chief Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abas has drawn his fair share of critics, though none appear as focused and vehement as the Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM).

In an interview this week, MTEM chief executive explained that the Malay business lobby group was no racial hardliner that had a personal vendetta against Shamsul’s merit-driven leadership, but was merely frustrated with the oil-and-gas giant’s seeming indifference to criticism, especially from the country’s Malay-Bumiputera stakeholders.

“For us, Petronas is not a (Bumiputera) issue, it’s a Malaysian development issue,” Nizam Mahshar told The Malay Mail Online.

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Saturday Star 2014-01-25 – Job Opportunities

January 27, 2014

Happy visit Kerteh week.

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. Send your cv here. Also looking for technical safety persons, metering / measurement engineers and other seniors you think will catch my eye.
  • Technip is looking for its next biggest asset: You (seen your BMI lately?) Visit here soon. Apply to Synergy first.

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!

This week, my theme is, you need to be a better all round engineer. Hence, some selections for the process engineer:

A Simple Guide To Understanding Jet Engines, Process Plant Instrumentation: Design and Upgrade, Mechanical Design of Process Systems: Piping and Pressure Vessels

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.

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Posted by Wata

Malaysia’s LNG exports rise to 8-month high

January 26, 2014

Dateline 2014-01-09, Business Times:

Malaysia’s liquefied natural gas exports rose 8.3 per cent in November to the highest level since March as prices dropped, according to data from the Statistics Department.

Petroliam Nasional Bhd, the state-owned oil and gas producer known as Petronas, shipped almost 2.3 million metric tonnes of LNG, the data show. That’s up from 2.1 million in October.

Kuala Lumpur-based Petronas received RM5.46 billion for November exports. That’s about US$14.10 per million British thermal units. The price was US$14.26 in October.

Malaysia was the world’s second-largest exporter of LNG in 2012 with output of 23.7 million metric tonnes, according to the industry-funded International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers.

 

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Malaysia’s Sona May Buy Indonesian Oilfield For RM418m

January 25, 2014

Bargain, I would have thought. Malaysian Digest, dateline 2013-12-09:

Sona Petroleum Bhd, an oil and gas (O&G) cash shell, has identified a new oil field asset in Indonesia to buy after failing to clinch a deal in September.

Sources claim that Sona Petroleum is looking to buy a 100% stake in a Sumatra oilfield which is producing 1,500 barrels of oil per day. The oilfield is also said to have the capability of ramping up production to 4,000 barrels a day.

Sona Petroleum is currently conducting a due diligence on the assets and if it is favourable expects to conclude the deal by early next year. Sona Petroleum has been actively scouring for oilfields. It had reviewed one in Australia, but had since abandoned the idea.

Back in September, there was wide speculation that Sona was looking to take up a stake in Singapore-listed RH Petrogas Ltd, an O&G company controlled by Sarawak tycoon Tan Sri Tiong Hiew King. However that deal didn’t come through.

…

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Malaysia, Brunei ink historic megabuck deals

January 24, 2014

Dateline 2013-12-09, The Star:

Malaysia and Brunei have inked historic and money-spinning deals to jointly drill for oil and gas in the resource-rich waters off the maritime border shared by the two nations, between the northern parts of Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah.

The national oil companies of the two nations also agreed on a deal to explore for shale gas in a joint project in Canada.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah on Sunday night witnessed the signing of the deals between Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas and PetroleumBRUNEI after their meeting at the palace here in the sultanate.

…

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Lured by cheap coal, Southeast Asia turns away from gas

January 23, 2014

Now, where is the phone number of my coal mine owner friend? Dateline 2013-12-09, Malaysian Insider:

Southeast Asia’s power sector will tilt away from gas to use more coal by the end of this decade, chipping away at demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the region of more than 600 million people tries to cut costs to meet soaring electricity needs.

With a wave of LNG projects due to come online this decade, this shift in consumption from a region long-expected to be a key growth market could help take some of the heat out of rising Asian prices of the cleaner fuel.

Gas prices in Asia are about five times more expensive than in the United States, driven by demand for LNG from countries such as Japan and South Korea — whose nuclear power sectors are in crisis — and China, where stringent pollution control measures are driving a switch from dirtier coal.

…

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Malaysia’s first oil and gas terminal to open soon

January 22, 2014

Methinks the reporter messed up the title. Also, is it implicit the SOGT never told local residents what to expect during an emergency flaring? Dateline 2013-12-09, The Star:

The country’s first integrated oil and gas terminal is set to be operational by early next year after undergoing several months of a commissioning process.

Project director Noor Illias Mohd Idris said the commissioning process of the RM3.8bil Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) in Kimanis was due to begin soon.

“This is one of our biggest projects and is capable of processing 1.25 million standard cubic feet of gas and 260,000 barrels of oil daily,” he said at a media briefing yesterday.

During the commissioning process, he said, loud noises due to the emission of gas flares as high as 100m would be heard by villagers within Kimanis and nearby areas.

“The flare is normal during commissioning due to the release of gas during equipment testing.

…

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Eurocopter’s EC175 made first stopover in Malaysia

January 21, 2014

For those of you looking for a new set of wheels to go to work.

Dateline 2013-12-07, fz.com (who?):

The Asian tour for Eurocopter’s EC175 began in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia early this week, where the new-generation helicopter was demonstrated for operators in the civil, military, law enforcement and para public sectors.
 
“A particular focus was on oil and gas industry services – for which the EC175 offers excellent performance, speed and handling qualities in challenging operations, particularly to offshore platforms,” said Francois de Bray, the marketing programme manager for EC175, during a demonstration flight of the helicopter for media here today.
 
The company sees Malaysia as an important market with a great potential growth. For that reason, Eurocopter brought the EC175 to Malaysia as the first stop of its Asia Demo Tour, which will also include Vietnam and Thailand.
…

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Saturday Star 2014-01-18 – Job Opportunities

January 20, 2014

Happy HAZID and HAZOP week

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. Send your cv here. Also looking for technical safety persons, metering / measurement engineers and other seniors you think will catch my eye.
  • Nothing else catches my eye.

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!

This week, my theme is, you need to be a better all round engineer. Hence, some selections for the process engineer:

A Simple Guide To Understanding Jet Engines, Process Plant Instrumentation: Design and Upgrade, Mechanical Design of Process Systems: Piping and Pressure Vessels

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.

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

REALLY? ‘Tariff hike VITAL to cover TNB’s escalating costs’

January 19, 2014

History, but what the hey…

Don’t just be energy efficient, embrace an energy efficiency culture.

Dateline 2013-12-06, Malaysia Chronicle:

AN imminent power tariff hike may give Tenaga Nasional Bhd a profit boost but it is still spending more than what it earns, industry sources say.

TNB is spending at least RM6 billion on new infrastructure, maintenance and capital expenditure (capex) annually to ensure power supply sustainability.

The investment is higher than the RM4.6 billion profit the national utility posted for the year ended August 31 2013, they noted.

The tariff revision, which is effective from January 1, is crucial to help TNB meet rising costs of supply, reinvest in ageing equipment and make improvements in providing reliable and quality electricity supply.

Of the RM6 billion, TNB invests between RM3.5 billion and RM4 billion annually for new supply and system improvements to its distribution networks and multi-connection channels, sources said.

…

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