Malaysia – Tank Fire at Tanjung Langsat

August 20, 2008

Ah, we welcome Malaysia as a statistic for tank fires. To quote from the Star:

18th August: TANJUNG LANGSAT: A 16,000-tonne gasoline tank belonging to oil trader Trafigura Pte Ltd caught fire at the Tanjung Langsat Port here yesterday, causing an inferno that could be seen kilometres away.

No one was reported to be injured.

At least 70 fire and rescue personnel in 11 fire engines from the Johor Baru, Johor Jaya, Pasir Gudang, and Kulai stations were trying to douse the flames at 10pm.

Fire and Rescue Department assistant director-general (operations) Amer Yusuf said the cause of the fire was not known and that there were eight other tanks nearby.

The operation was led by Johor Fire and Rescue Department deputy director Shukur Sani Hashim and assisted by the Pasir Gudang Emergency Mutual Aid Group (Pagema).

And the situation got worse today, says the Star and Bernama, which has be quoted below:

The fire which broke out Sunday at one of the eight oil storage tanks at the Tanjung Langsat Port oil depot has spread to another tank.

The incident happened as work was going on to pump out 11,200 cubic metres of Naptha from the tank by personnel from the Fire and Rescue Unit, Pasir Gudang Emergency Mutual Aid and the Pasir Gudang Municipal Council.

Tanjung Langsat Port Sdn Bhd director Lukman Abu Bakar confirmed the incident but did not say when the second tank caught fire.

“The fire spread to the second tank and we are controlling the blaze,” he said.

The fire broke out at about 6.30 pm Sunday at the first tank which had 16,000 cubic metres of gasoline.

And apparently they ran out of fire fighting materials, which allowed the fire to spread. Now, if you were in charge of the fire fighting inventory in the oil and gas industry, you would be out on a sling before the last flames had died down.

Could this be a case of risk analysis gone wrong?

1 Comment | Malaysia, oil and gas | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by Wata

Saturday Star 08-08-16 – Job Opportunities

August 18, 2008

Another week, another scan of the Saturday Star newspaper. Here’s a list of job ads in the paper:

  • Shell is looking for a mess of engineers, with either design or operations experience.  Head to their website and follow Professionals & Apply → Job Search → Region → Asia. Closing date’s August 31st, so run to your nearest netbook.
  • Carigali Hess is looking for people in the Operations and Development area: Odd Services Man (now there’s a title you won’t throw around casually), Constr Man, Snr. Struc Eng, Snr RBI Eng, Mech Eng, Rot Eqt Eng. Looks like nothing a process eng would want. Send your docs in via email before 30th August, 2008. Alternatively, snail mail to HR & Admin Section, Carigali Hess Operating Company Sdn Bhd, Level 68, Tower 2, PETRONAS Twin Towers, KLCC, 50088 KL. If you don’t apply, all the more jobs for me…
  • Petrofac is looking of people to be located at Sharjah, UAE. Positions are Proj Eng Man, Proj Man, Pipe. Eng, Piping Eng, Process Eng, Safety & Risk Analysis Eng, Rot Eqt. Eng, Telecom Eng. Need 10+ years relevant exp. Apply here with full details. Hey, don’t they need more people for their operations here?

1 Comment | engineering | Permalink
Posted by Wata

Space Portal Sighted

August 17, 2008

I provide the following photo, for your contemplation. Has a certain sci-fi series moved from the tv (the series ended) to real life?

Artifact by the roadside

Artifact by the roadside

What’s the connection with oil and gas, you say? Our national company’s gas station overlooks the artifact.

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Wimax in Malaysia (KL at least)

August 13, 2008

Wimax is on a trial basis in KL. You can get more info here. The company providing the service is P1, and the service is call P1 W1MAX. Someone told me the Internet is making bad spellers, and I would tend to agree 🙂

My opinion? This roll out is on the bleeding edge. Only apply if you want to be the first on the block to have it. Me, wait till TM comes up with Wimax, then you have national pride on the line. In the meantime, use unlimited 3G.

11 Comments | business opportunity, Malaysia | Tagged: , | Permalink
Posted by Wata

Carigali’s Original Offices

August 12, 2008

How many of you recognise these premises as being the building that first housed PCSB?

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Saturday Star 08-08-09 – Job Opportunities

August 11, 2008

Another week, another scan of the Saturday Star newspaper. Here’s a list of job ads in the paper:

  • DPS Bristol (M) Sdn Bhd and DPS Consultant Malaysia Sdn Bhd are looking for a lot of engineers. Examples are Project Eng (6 pax), Lead Process Eng (10 pax!), Lead Mech/Pipe (10 pax)… I wish my company was expanding that fast. Anyhow, closing date is 15th August, 2008. You can fax your resume to +603 9206 2626 or email it in.
  • MISC are looking for a few engineers. 
  • MMHE is looking for engineers. They have a walk in interview at Hotel Grand Continental Kuantan, 16th and 17th August, between 8.30 to 6.00 pm. Visit their site under Career Opportunities, or email your resume in.
  • Schlumbergeris looking for a geoscientist / reservoir engineer. Email your resume in before 20th August.
  • Newfield are looking for a Geologist / Geophysicist / Completions Engineer / Offshore Installation, Projects Engineer / Onshore Construction, Project Engineer. Email your resume in before 23rd August.
  • Nippon Oil is looking for a whole mess of people. I guess they want to staff up a project management team (PMC) for new developments. Engineering positions available: contract, facility, senior production, senior reservoir, DCS & instr, senior opns, senior process, senior maintenance, mech. Snail mail before 31st August, 2008 to Human Resources Section, Nippon Oil Exploration (Malaysia), Ltd, Lot 1168, 3rd Floor, Wisma Interhill, Miri Waterfront Commercial Centre, 98000 Miri, Sarawak. Hey, this is almost exactly the advert that went out 08-04-26. If I were you, I would ask for more money as they didn’t get the people they wanted 4 months ago.
  • Oryxin Kuwait has a position for Head of Production, Utilities & Hydrogen Production and Product Workup Units. Another GTL opportunity. They are a JV between the ever loved Qatar Petroleum and Sasol of South Africa.
  • Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) is looking for a process, instrument / control system, safety engineers and polypropylene operators. There is  a walk in interview on the 16th to 19th August, 2009. (tempting, tempting) at the JW Marriot, between 0900 to 1700. You can apply via email here.

Happy hunting. Let me have some feedback if you find this list useful. Even better, spread the news. PayPal donations welcome.

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Posted by Wata

Oil Spill in Miri

August 9, 2008

To quote from the Star:

Thursday August 7, 2008 MYT 4:58:51 PM Leak along pipeline causes oil spill off Miri

By STEPHEN THEN

MIRI: Petronas Carigali has suspended decommissioning works on a network of disused pipelines offshore Miri in northern Sarawak after detecting leakage along a 13km pipeline that lays between an oil platform in the South China Sea and the inshore Miri Crude Oil Terminal.

The company’s contractor and staff from the Department of Environment are now in the midst of an operation to contain the spill and to clean up the oil sleeks that had washed ashore, causing pollution to a stretch of beach along an exclusive housing estate occupied by oil and gas industry expatriates in Lutong town, some 20km north of the city here.

DOE Miri chief Dayang Norbani on Thursday confirmed that the leakage has been contained and that 90% of the spill had been recovered. “We are now in the midst of trying to recover the other 10%. Petronas’ contractors are also cleaning up the beaches to ensure that the pollutants are removed.

“We are still trying to determine how the leak occurred and how much of the shoreline has been affected,” she said when contacted.

To a question, she said the DOE is still trying to find out if any populated riverine villages were affected by the oil pollutants.

Dozens of workers from the oil company had been deployed at various points along the affected zones to ensure that the oil sleeks do not get washed back to the sea.

PETRONAS on Thursday issued a statement saying that “about 15 barrels of oil” trapped in the pipeline had leaked into the South China Sea, and the leakage was spotted at 7.40pm on Tuesday.

The company said that air surveillance had been carried out and it was found that there were no additional signs of leakage.

“The company had deployed divers to detect the exact location of the leakage on the pipeline for repair works to be done,” said the statement.

The pipeline was installed in 1984. A new pipeline was installed last year.

The decommissioning works on the old pipeline started on Monday and was supposed to go on for three weeks.

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Fuel Saving Tips – Commentary II

August 8, 2008

There’s this email being circulated touting the best way to fill up your car. You know the one, giving advice such as:

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TIPS IS TO FILL UP WHEN YOUR TANK IS HALF FULL. The reason for this is, the more fuel you have in your tank, the less air occupying its empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine. Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated, so that every litre is actually the exact amount.

What kind of tripe is this? “… occupying its empty space. Petrol evaporates…” if I did this kind of logical leap in an exam, I would be shot.

Consider this. All things being equal (temperature, driving style, etc), two half tanks would take you the same distance as one full tank. So, for the same distance driven, when you refill your tank, you would displace either:

  • 2 x 1/2 tank volume, or
  • 1 x 1 tank volume.

Aren’t these the same?

The article further confuses the issue by introducing internal floating roofs to eliminate vapour space and minimise creation of fuel vapours, therefore have more fuel to burn. Problem is that floating roofs have guides to maintain the roof position and levelness, and these don’t take kindly to the jostling a typical car ride will provide. A jammed roof would limit your tank capacity.

2 Comments | engineering | Permalink
Posted by Wata

Travelling Around Kerteh – Taxis

August 7, 2008

I go to Kerteh once in a while, either chasing business, or being chased to get business in that most famous of oil towns. Well, the ‘town’ designation is a bit grand for a place that is essentially a hamlet.

Anyhow, travel around Kerteh is difficult if you don’t have your own transport. Taxis are based at Kerteh airport, and charge you according to travel distance to and from the base. You won’t find taxis roaming the streets that you can flag down.

Taxi travel is expensive around Kerteh, with the rates being set the local Taxi Association (located at said airport). Sample costs are:

  • Awana Kijal to TCOT is RM50
  • Airport to TCOT is RM25
  • Awana Kijal to PETRONAS @ Rantau PETRONAS is RM25
  • Awana Kijal to Airport RM30

Note that the taxis make most of their money ferrying people to and from the airport. These would be people transferring to and from offshore, and passengers on the twice-a-day Subang shuttle. I guess the low volumes justify the high cost of taxis.

Useful contact nos. are:

  • Airport Taxi desk: +6098262108
  • Jafa: +60199636253

My suggestion is that if you travel to Kerteh via Kuantan and have a lot of places to visit, rent a car at the Kuantan airport.

10 Comments | engineering | Permalink
Posted by Wata

V-Cool Makes your Car a Faraday Cage?

August 6, 2008

Talking about Faraday cages, I have anecdotal evidence (i.e. me trying it out) that you can’t get a GPS lock inside your car if it is equipped with V-Cool window tints. I wonder why. I didn’t know that tinted glass products could block out radio waves.

GPS operates at 1575.42 MHz (190mm). My cellphone service operator, Celcom operates GSM at 900 MHz (300mm) and 1800 MHz (150mm). As the wavelengths are similar, it seems that you would block out telephone reception as well (i.e. a conductive mesh that blocks 190mm electromagnetic waves would block 300mm as well). But v-cool doesn’t, as far as I can tell, or maybe it blocks GSM 900 but not GSM 1800?

Anyone know how this is possible? References to window tint films here and here.

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