Prudent use of PETRONAS’ revenues

November 11, 2012

Dateline 2012-10-14:

OPPOSITION FOLLY: An increase in royalty payments to states to 20pc will hit the nation as much as the firm.

BY all accounts, Petronas’ role in overseeing and managing the country’s oil and gas resources has been exceptional.

Started in 1974 as a small national oil corporation, Petronas has since emerged as Malaysia’s only global Fortune 500 company, with operations in upstream and downstream activities in dozens of countries.

Petronas’ oil and gas reserves now rank 28th in the world, higher than some well-known European or Chinese oil companies, according to a study.

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Petronas misunderstood 20% oil royalty for state policy’ – Rafizi

November 10, 2012

Puhleez…

Dateline 2012-10-13:

Pakatan Rakyat’s pledge to give 20 percent oil royalty instead of the current 5 percent to oil producing states will not incur extra burden to national oil firm Petronas, said PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli today.

He said according to the new deal, the coalition will use Petronas’s current contribution of RM70 billion every year to the Federal budget to make up for the additional 15 percent revenue, and not by altering any present tax structure imposed on the company.

Petronas yesterday criticised PR’s plan to increase royalty payment for oil producing states, saying it could jeopardise its business and profitability and tax payments due to lower income.

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Boom time seen for oil and gas

November 9, 2012

Dateline 2012-10-13:

WITH more oil finds and disruptive technologies coming onstream, the level of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the oil and gas sector is set to increase.

It’s going to be a boon for oil and gas service providers as the abundance of opportunities propel these companies to expand into new regions and grow bigger through acquisitions, say oil and gas experts from Ernst & Young.

Some key game changers include shale oil potentially becoming very big in China and technology making it progressively easier to get more certainty in striking oil. Renewables will likely not pose a huge threat to conventional hydrocarbons, at least for the next few decades.

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FOXE 2012 3Q meeting

November 8, 2012

Some photos from the FOXE 2012 meeting.


IEM Shout Out – One-day Course on Plastics for Automotive Applications

November 7, 2012

This is a shout out for IEM. The Chemical Engineering Technical Division will be organizing an ‘One-day Course on Plastics for Automotive Applications‘ on the 21st November, 2012 (Wed.) at Wisma IEM, PJ. The session is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. (registration at 8.30 a.m.) and end around 5 p.m. Participant will be granted 6 CPD/ PDP hours at the end of the day.

 This course is specially designed for people interested to gain knowledge on the plastics usage for automotive applications. This course will cover the basic theory of polymer properties and characterization as well as the processing technology. It is followed by exploring the plastic reinforcement technology and their competition in the automotive industry. In addition, environmental and safety requirement based on the customer demand of the automotive industry will be discussed. Finally, the examples of the use of plastics for specific components and systems will be covered.

At the end of the course, the participants will be able to:

  • Analyse laboratory data to determine the performance of the plastic materials.
  • Select plastic materials based on application requirements.
  • Synthesis the reinforcement package for automotive application.
  • Determine the safety specifications to fulfill the international standards.

Ir. Assoc. Prof. Dr Tee Tiam Ting is an associate professor in Chemical Engineering Department of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR). He has more than 30 years of teaching and research experiences in the field of Plastics in the university. He was the former vice president of IEM and currently the fellow member of IEM. He still plays an active role as a committee member of Chemical Engineering Technical Division (CETD) of IEM. He graduated with PhD from McGill University, Canada and was working on developing an oscillatory rheometer in 1970s to measure the viscoelastic property of polymer melts. He had worked as plant manager in an international Injection Moulding company at Montreal, Canada. He is currently an active consultant for Commercial Polymers Sdn. Bhd. to develop crosslinked polyethylene for cable application. He also had served as technical adviser to Malaysian Plastics Manufacturing Association of Malaysia for many years. He plays an active role in designing the polymer engineering curriculum of UTAR for undergraduate program.

Engr. Dr Lee Tin Sin is an assistant professor in Chemical Engineering Department of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR). He graduated from the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) with First Class Honours in Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical-Polymer) and PhD in Polymer Engineering. He completed his PhD in two years’ time with 10 papers publications in international journals and book chapter about the characterization of biopolymer. His PhD research was focus on developing injection mouldable biodegradable cassava starch polymer compound which has won silver medal award in Malaysia Technology Expo 2010. Moreover, he has received IEM Young Engineers Award 2012. Previously, he worked as a R&D Process Engineer in Superlon Worldwide Sdn. Bhd. which is one of the largest nitrile insulation manufacturers in Malaysia. Currently, he plays active roles in designing the polymer engineering curriculum of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman for undergraduate program. Besides, he also serves as a committee member of the Chemical Engineering Technical Division (CETD) of IEM. In March 2012, the Young Engineer Awardwas conferred on him by the IEM Council in recognition of his outstanding works and achievements as an inspired young engineer.

Register here or download the form here. A map to Wisma IEM is presented here.


IEM Shout Out – Full-Day HAZOP Training For Team Members – A Practical Approach

November 6, 2012

My technical division will be hosting a 1 day seminar on the 20th November, 2012. It is worth 6 CPD points, and held at Kelab Golf Negara Subang. Since I’m giving it, I expect hoards will have to be turned away at the gates.

A Hazard and Operability study is a formal and systematic and detailed examination of the process and engineering intentions of new or existing facilities which assesses the hazard potential and effects on the facility as a whole when operation is outside of the design envelope, or individual items of equipment malfunction.

This course is designed to educate participants in the HAZOP process from the perspective of a HAZOP 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 behind HAZOP
  • Are familiar with the actual HAZOP workshop process
  • Have expectations as to what the HAZOP will (and won’t provide)
  • Understand what deliverables can be expected from a HAZOP
  • Have the opportunity to participate in HAZOP exercise in a safe environment
  • Opportunity to share HAZOP experiences

At the end of the session, the participants should:

  • Understand the responsibilities of all parties in the HAZOP
  • Have experience in a HAZOP session.
  • Understand the outcomes from a HAZOP session

Wata has 16 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, in both design and operations.

Register here, or download the form here.


Tales from the Engineering Floor – Twin Towers

November 5, 2012

Another day, another visit to the Twin towers. Client offices were above the 41st floor, so had a photo opportunity here.


Oil, gas and energy sector needs three-pronged sustainability approach

November 4, 2012

Dateline 2012-10-17:

A THREE-PRONGED approach must be taken to sustain the country’s oil, gas and energy sector.

Oil, Gas and Energy (OGE) and Financial Services in the Perfor-mance Management and Delivery Unit director Dr Mohammed Emir Mavani Abdullah said the sector played a crucial role to the nation’s economy, contributing 20% to the growth domestic product.

However, he said sustainable effort had to be taken as the oil and gas industry had seen a declining trend in its production since 1990’s.

“We need to take a three-pronged approach to sustain the industry.

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RM7.2b oil royalty ‘rip-off’ for Sabah

November 3, 2012

Dateline 2012-10-17:

The RM7.2 billion received by Sabah for the past 40 years, being the 5% oil royalty payment under an agreement to extract the commodity from the state and its waters, is a major rip-off for the Sabahans, Kota Kinabalu MP Hiew King Cheu said today.

“The Sabahans’ demand for an increase in oil and gas sharing is understandable and this figure [of RM7.2 billion] is solid proof that the wealth of the Sabahan is exploited and being siphoned away.

“We did not enjoy the wealth provided by mother earth; instead we ended up with plenty of hardship, poverty, no development, and poor economy. Many other oil-producing countries are rich, but Sabah has remained a poor state,” he said.

He was commenting on Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister Najib Tun Razak’s reply to a question raised by him in Parliament recently.

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PKR promises to scale down and move RAPID project to Kertih

November 2, 2012

You know which box to tick.

Dateline 2012-10-05:

PKR said today it plans to scale down Petronas’ RM60 billion petrochemical project and move it from Pengerang in Johor to Kertih in Terengganu if it wins in the coming general election.

Critics of the controversial Refinery and Petrochemicals Development (RAPID) project have said that it will cause thousands of villagers in Pengerang to lose their homes and livelihoods.

“Why (do we) need to take the land of villagers in Pengerang when we have enough land in Kertih?” Wong Chen, PKR’s chairman of investment and trade bureau, asked at a press conference at the party’s headquarters here.

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