Malaysia – Cost of Natural Gas Price Increase

June 10, 2008

What’s been obvious to consumers in Malaysia is the ‘release’ of petrol (bahan bakar motor as they say in Indonesia), causing the pump cost to rise to RM2.70/l from RM1.92/l.

What I haven’t seen so much of is comments on the rise of gas prices. Here’s a summary:

  • Power producers – RM14.31/MMBTU from RM6.40/MMBTU (120% increase)
  • Industrial users, low consumers – RM24.54 from 9.40 (160%)
  • Industrial users, high consumers – RM32.56 from 11.32 (190%)

Natural gas is used as a raw material for many modern products. So, we can be sure that all chemical industries will hit the rakyat with a price increase which is independent for rising fuel costs.

I wonder how this will effect the Kawasan Industri Petroliam PETRONAS (KIPP) out there in Kerteh? Most of the plants there depend on gas feedstock, for example Petlin, Optimal,  Ethylene Malaysia, and the various companies listed below (I would link to the PETRONAS page, but it’s one of those funky frame pages). I guess a round of repricing, efficiency, retreating to core businesses, and mergers is in order.

 

Plant: Ethylene
Capacity: 400,000 TPA
Company: Ethylene Malaysia Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS, Idemitsu Petrochemicals Co Ltd, BP Chemicals
Onstream: September 1995
.
Plant: Polyethylene
Capacity: 200,000 TPA HDPE/LLDPE, 50,000 TPA Pipe compounding
Company: Polyethylene Malaysia Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS, BP Chemicals
Onstream: May 1995
.
Plant: Vinyl Chloride Monomer
Capacity: 400,000 TPA
Company: Vinyl Chloride (M) Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS
Onstream: November 2000
.
Plant: Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
Capacity: 150,000 TPA
Company: Vinyl Chloride (M) Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS
Onstream: September 2000
.
Plant: Ammonia / Syngas
Capacity: 450,000 TPA Ammonia, 325,000 TPA Syngas
Company: PETRONAS Ammonia Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS
Onstream: December 2000
.
Plant: Acetid Acid
Capacity: 400,000 TPA
Company: BP PETRONAS Acetyls Sdn Bhd
Partners: BP Amoco, PETRONAS
Onstream: November 2000
.
Plant: Aromatics
Capacity: 420,000 TPA Paraxylene, 145,000 TPA Benzene
Company: Aromatics Malaysia Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS, MJPX Co Ltd
Onstream: July 2000
.
Plant: Olefins (Second Cracker )
Capacity: 600,000 TPA Ethylene, 95,000 TPA Propylene
Company: Optimal Olefins (M) Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS, The Dow Chemical Company, Sasol Polymers Investments (Pty) Ltd
Onstream: January 2002
.
Plant: Ethylene Oxide, Ethylene Glycol
Capacity: 140,000 TPA Ethylene Oxide, 385,000 TPA Ethylene Glycols
Company: Optimal Glycols (M) Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS, The Dow Chemical Company
Onstream: February 2002
.
Plant: Ethylene Derivatives
Capacity: 30,000 TPA Ethoxylates, 75,000 TPA Ethanolamines, 60,000 TPA Glycol Ethers,140,000 TPA Butanol, 50,000 Butyl Acetate
Company: Optimal Chemicals (M) Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS, The Dow Chemical Company
Onstream: April 2002
.
Plant: Low Density Polyethylene
Capacity: 255,000 TPA LDPE
Company: Petlin (M) Sdn Bhd
Partners: PETRONAS, Sasol Polymers of South Africa, Sabic Polyethylenes B.V.
Onstream: February 2002
.

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Saturday Star 08-06-07 – Job Opportunities

June 9, 2008

Another week, another scan of the Saturday Star newspaper. This time, I’m trying out the ebrowse feature provided by BlueHyppo (will he ever manage to balik kampung?). Saves trees, though trying to install the ActiveX application seems to be problematic in Vista.

Here’s a list of job ads in the paper:

  • RasGas is looking for technicians and shutdown planning engineers (that’s execution of s/downs, not causing them). CVs to be submitted here. The local contact number is +603 2078 1918. I believe RasGas is a JV, one of the partners being ExxonMobil.
  • Germanischer Lloyd is looking for people (didn’t they obtain enough people when they bought Trident Far East?). They are looking for corrosion/metal, inspection, rot equipt, I&E and reliability engs. CVs to be submitted here.
  • Talisman is looking for a Senior Integrity Engineer, and his subordinate.

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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Taxis – Jakarta and KL

June 8, 2008

While travelling on business and pleasure, I notice the taxi services in Jakarta are much nicer than the ones in KL. How so?

  1. I’ve never had to enter a taxi that didn’t use the meter when told to. This includes famous and non famous taxi brands. Try that in KL near a) KLCC b) Bukit Bintang c) Indonesian embassy. It’s at least RM10 to anywhere within spitting distance, exponential beyond that.
  2. I’ve never had to wait for a taxi. There are a whole mess around. Now, if we could flood KL with taxis, maybe the problems in a) would disappear…
  3. Taxis in Jakarta are bigger. The reputable ones use Toyotas, with plenty of leg room. In KL, the budget taxis are Proton Sagas. Not that I am complaining about the brand, but when the driver shoves his seat all the way back, there’s about an inch clearance between the back of his seat, and the edge of the back seat.

Why did this entry make it into an engineering blog? It’s a factor to consider when comparing the pros and cons of working in SEA.

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Camera Flash plus Flame Detection – Instant Fame

June 7, 2008

You have to be careful where you point your flash-enabled camera offshore. One method of detecting a fire on the platform is by monitoring the amount of ultraviolet (UV) light. UV is produced by flames, hence UV detection is a direct indication of a fire. However, UV is also present in sunlight (including sunlight reflected of the sea), so exposure to it might cause a false alarm. That is why UV detectors are located within enclosures, for example turbo generators (TG).

Back to flash photography. A flash produces UV radiation. So, if this is detected, the platform Fire and Gas (F&G) system will probably trip thinking there is a fire, and shutting down production.

So, suggestions are:

  • Kill the flash / autoflash mode.
  • Do not flip the flash up, for some models.
  • Tape over the flash.

 

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Newfield’s New Baby

June 6, 2008

Undisclosed sources say that Newfield’s Chermingat has produced first oil, but is undergoing problems typical of all newborns. Does that mean there are opportunities for nannies to help smoothen the transition? Can IGL Process Solutions provide this help?

Chermingat is located in Block PM323 offshore Peninsular Malaysia. She was built by Oilfab, with the engineering services done by MMC Oil & Gas Engineering. Ah, I remember the days when mmogel (such a weird shorthand) was an excellent company to work with. Most of the old and trusted process engineers of now have passed through its doors, passed through being the operative word.

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Design: 100 year storm

June 5, 2008

During the downpour today, I was reminded of one design aspect of offshore structures. They are designed to handle the expected worst case nature can throw at it. This would be defined for example as a 10 year storm, 50 year storm, 100 year storm, i.e. the worst weather the platform will experience in 10/50/100 years. I assume data collection is done by companies such as Metocean, who provide probabilities of weather conditions in given locations.

I wonder what happens if you use out of date information, considering that the world’s weather is changing. Would the ol’ 50 year storm end up happening every year now?

On the same theme, I give you a look at the weather conditions at Puchong today. The mp4 videos are available here and here.

 

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Onshore Exploration Acerage

June 4, 2008

Why doesn’t Malaysia have producing onshore oil and gas acreage? Neighbours Sumatra and Jawa have tonnes of onshore wells, as a friend of mine says, every 100 meters.

Looking at a map (sorry people, inside info only), the only onshore acreage on the Peninsular is PM322, which comes inland at Kelang Port and Western Johor (ah, that Muar mee bandung).

Looking at East Malaysia, there are 4 onshore acreages in Sarawak (SK331-334) and 4 in Sabah (SB330-332/336). Again, these lie along the coastline. I don’t believe these have ever been open for tenders and bids.

Ironic that the ‘Old Lady of Miri,’ Malaysia’s first oil producing well was onshore. Now all of Malaysia’s wells are offshore.

 Wouldn’t it be funny if we have a drilling rig raised next to the Sultan Abdul Samad bridge in Muar? or next to the Second Link?

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Expensive Trees

June 3, 2008

A tale told me. A manager reminiscing about the past describes how during a discussion, he wondered why christmas trees were sooo expensive. Was the company getting a bum deal?

Hah, talk about confusing terminology. To the layman, a christmas tree is:

Children\'s tree

To oil and gas engineers, a christmas tree is:

Notice the lack of leaves, needles and decorations.

 

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Saturday New Straits Times 08-05-31 – Job Opportunities

June 2, 2008

I’m changing loyalties this week, mainly because I’m travelling and picked up the first Malaysian newspaper lying around on the plane seat.

I’ve only seen one advert for engineers by Talisman. The advert looks as if the printer ran out of magenta, as the whole print is green.

Have fun. 

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Hardship in the Jungle

June 1, 2008

As I’m wondering around Sumatera, I manage to take a peek at a base camp for one multinational company. Much nicer, more spread out than an itty bitty platform in the middle of the South China Sea.

 

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