A Tale of Two State-Owned Oil and Gas Companies

December 18, 2020

Dateline 2020-12-01, The Diplomat:

2020 has been a rough year for oil companies. In April, with the sudden stop in economic activity due to COVID-19 shutdowns, the price of U.S. crude fell to below zero for the first time in history. Oil companies were essentially forced to pay to store excess crude for a while, and with the global economy still reeling the rebound in demand has been sluggish. Still, the market price for crude bounced back pretty quickly, likely on hopes that this downturn will be short-lived. While it remains below its pre-pandemic price, it has recovered quite a bit since its April lows, with a barrel of West Texas Intermediate fetching $45.53 last week.

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Malaysia and China in stand-off near PTTEP’s appraisal drilling

December 17, 2020

Dateline 2020-11-30, Upstream:

The Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) and Royal Malaysian Navy have been involved in yet another standoff over oil and gas drilling in the South China Sea as tensions mount between regional powers over resources in the strategic sea area.

The CCG vessel 5402 in mid-November approached the Borr Drilling-owned jack-up Gunnlod, which is working for Thailand’s national upstream company PTTEP on Block SK 410B off Sarawak, East Malaysia, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) of the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).

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Human Writes: We are paying for electricity that we don’t use

December 16, 2020

Dateline 2020-11-22, The Star:

Psst, Malaysia, wanna save more than a billion ringgit a year? We surely need to save money what with the government’s debts and liabilities rising to record highs due in part to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Every year, folks, we lose at least RM1.2bil in energy industry deals, observers say. We have way too many power plants. Our capacity to generate power (which we pay for) is way more than the maximum power used (peak demand) – a difference known as the “reserve margin”. The 2021 margin is set to be 48%, says a report by an energy planning body in the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry (specifically, the Planning and Implementation Committee for Electricity Supply and Tariffs, known as JPPPET, its Malay acronym).

The RM1bil loss is calculated on the excess above retaining a 25% reserve margin. But many other countries keep much lower reserve margins, at 15%.

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Asean ministers set 35% target on renewable energy

December 15, 2020

Dateline 2020-11-20, The Malaysiain Reserve:

ENERGY Ministers in the Asean region have agreed to set a new target of 35% renewable energy (RE) in installed power capacity by 2025.

This aim was made following Malaysia’s proposal for the region to set a target for RE in installed power capacity by 2025 during its tenure as the chairman of the Renewable Energy Sub-Sector Network (RE-SSN) from 2018 until 2020.

“Malaysia’s effort has come to fruition when ASEAN Energy Ministers agreed to set a new target of 35% RE in installed power capacity by 2025, which Malaysia believes will contribute to achieving ASEAN’s target of 23% of RE in Total Primary Energy Supply in 2025.

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Malaysia’s Sarawak seeks investors to find new onshore plays

December 14, 2020

Dateline 2020-11-20, Energy Voice:

The eastern Malaysian state of Sarawak, home to the country’s LNG export complex, will soon open onshore acreage for bidding, as it hopes to revitalise its onshore oil and gas industry after taking regulatory control from the federal government.

Since the 1970s, significant oil and gas reserves have been discovered offshore Sarawak, which have helped supply one of the world’s largest LNG plants in Bintulu.

Although there has been significant exploration onshore since the 1980s, results have been modest. Still, Sarawak remains hopeful that new investment will help prove fresh commercial reserves by applying new technologies.

Moreover, Sarawak, after winning a recent battle against the federal government and Petronas for greater control of its natural resources, will now start offering onshore acreage through open auction, as well as direct negotiation. Two onshore blocks, covering the Miri and Limbang, as well as Lawas areas – SK 433 and SK 334 – will be open for bidding in the coming months, the state announced on 30 October 2020.

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KeTSA: National Energy Awards 2020 Winners Announced

December 13, 2020

Dateline 2020-11-19, Acrofan (who?), and I see Top Glove is up there, pre-Cooties scandal:

The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (KeTSA) is pleased to announce the winners of the National Energy Awards (NEA) 2020. 30 from the total 110 participants of the NEA were selected as winners of NEA 2020 through a rigorous evaluation process involving a panel of professional and experienced judges which comprises three categories: Category 1 – Energy Efficiency, Category 2 – Renewable Energy and Category 3 – Special Awards.

The participants of NEA 2020 comprised organisations that have transformed their operations or buildings to be more energy efficient and/or those that have successfully implemented renewable energy systems to reduce carbon footprint. KeTSA remains committed in honouring Malaysia’s pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and believes that support from industry players in the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency is pivotal to achieve the country’s commitment.

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O&G players may form consortiums to bid for Exxon Mobil’s Malaysian assets

December 12, 2020

Can I join in, for old time’s sake? Us ex-Esso folks have some payback comin’.

Dateline 2020-11-17, The Edge:

SEVERAL local oil and gas (O&G) companies are understood to be interested in acquiring Exxon Mobil Corp’s assets in Malaysia, which are up for sale, but are said to be more comfortable forming consortiums to bid for these assets because of the hefty price tag of US$2 billion to US$3 billion (RM8.26 billion to RM12.39 billion).

A controlling shareholder of one of the larger companies says, “We are always on the lookout for assets, [but] no one company can go it alone [acquisition of Exxon Mobil’s assets], and no sensible management will make such a [risky] decision.”

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Sarawak forms committee to ensure greater participation in oil and gas sector

December 11, 2020

So, can I hold dual citizenship? Malaysia and Sarawak?
Dateline 2020-11-13, Malay Mail:

 A committee has been formed to facilitate negotiations between the state government, the federal government and Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) to ensure greater participation of the state in the oil and gas sector, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said in the state assembly today.

He said negotiations on commercial solutions for the matter are still ongoing among the three parties.

“The state government is fully committed to taking control of the exploration and mining of oil and gas within the territorial boundaries of the state,” he said in his winding-up speech for the debate on the State Budget 2021. 

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Marine Dept to ensure probe into Dayang Topaz accident runs smoothly

December 10, 2020

It’s been a while. How big is that carpet, all this is swept under? Which hotshot’s children are being protected? It happened on Oct 27th, btw.

Dateline 2020-11-12:

The Malaysian Marine Department will ensure that the investigation into the MV Dayang Topaz accident incident runs smoothly.

Corporate Unit of the department in a statement today said the investigation team had gathered evidence from the vessel’s Voyage Data Recorder to complete the investigation on the Oct 27 incident which claimed the lives of two crewmen.

“The department has ensured all factors contributing to the occurrence of this accident are in detail and actions are taken to ensure the investigation runs smoothly,” said the statement.

The visit restrictions on board of MV Dayang Topaz had been lifted on Nov 6 to give way to third parties and Petronas to inspect the maintenance vessel.

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Warisan rep chides ex-colleague over petroleum sales tax issue

December 9, 2020

Dateline 2020-11-12, FMT:

There is no truth to claims that former Sabah chief minister Shafie Apdal did not pursue the 5% sales tax on petroleum products because he was worried about offending former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Warisan’s Merotai assemblyman Sarifuddin Hata came to his party president’s defence today following comments by former assistant finance minister Kenny Chua on the issue.

Yesterday, Chua had agreed with STAR’s Tulid assemblywoman Flovia Ng’s allegation over Shafie’s refusal to pursue the matter until after the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government in February this year.

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