From Reuters – Petronas awards 2 offshore blocks to Lundin

May 22, 2010

Hmm, Nio Petroleum seems to be a new O&G player in Malaysia. Anyone know where their Malaysian office is? And ‘The contractors minimum commitment is US$8 million’? What, are they only going to drill half a well? You can’t by a compressor for that amount of money.

Dateline 2010-05-19: Taken from Reuters:

Malaysian state oil company PETRONAS said today it had awarded two oil exploration blocks offshore Sabah to Sweden’s Lundin and Nio Petroleum.

Blocks SB307 and SB308 measure approximately 6,230 sq km and are located in water depths of up to 70 metres. Both blocks have been explored since 1965, Petronas said in a statement.

Lundin will own 42.5 per cent and operate both blocks, Nio will have 42.5 per cent and PETRONAS Carigali will own 15 per cent.

The contractors minimum commitment is US$8 million, Petronas said.

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Murphy Oil block interests off Malaysia terminated

May 2, 2010

Is this old news? I haven’t heard anyone, Murphy or otherwise, moaning about lost opportunities. Now, does PETRONAS have to pay them for the loss of opportunity and sunken costs to date? And will they pay damages to us small contractors? And will that cost be then transfered to the rakyat?

Taken from the Oil & Gas Journal, dateline 2010-04-22:

LOS ANGELES, Apr. 22 — Murphy Oil Corp.’s interests in Blocks L and M off Malaysia have been terminated after resolution of a dispute with Brunei over control of the assets.

Murphy was informed by state-owned PETORNAS that the two blocks are no longer a part of the country following an agreement between Malaysia and the Sultanate of Brunei.

Murphy said its potential participation in replacement production-sharing contracts (PSCs) covering these areas is “under discussion.”

The announcement follows recent reports that the two southeast Asian countries are trying to implement an agreement made in March 2009 to establish a commercial arrangement area.

That agreement ended a dispute that erupted in 2003 when PETRONAS and Murphy were awarded two offshore leases, SB L and SB M. The blocks overlapped with Brunei’s Blocks J and K, which had been awarded to Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

In a recent report, the Economist Intelligence Unit noted that Brunei and Malaysia are “inching closer towards resolving their border disputes.”

EIU noted in particular that “agreement on the land border could pave the way for a deal on the maritime border that would allow both countries to benefit from the discovery of new oil and gas deposits.”

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PETRONAS – Gas for Iran, Not?

April 24, 2010

It appears that our politicians and newspaper reports should get their facts and stances correct:

  • April 16: AsiaOne reports ‘Malaysia suspends gasoline supplies to Iran’
  • April 16: UPI reports that ‘PETRONAS jumps Iranian Ships.’
  • April 17: A local rag reports that ‘KL warns Teheran after cutting off supply.’
  • April 18: Oh, was it a single spot sale that was stopped? Reported in the above local rag.

 Maybe the local Iranian students should surround the PETRONAS embassy, to scare them into reporting a fact, and just one fact.

Anyhow, al-Jazeerah reports the Chinese stepped into the breach and increased their supply of gasoline.

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PETRONAS-Related Geologist Shot Dead in Ethiopia

April 21, 2010

I guess a PETRONAS subcontractor overseas is not news enough for the local newswires? Or is this a cover-up as to not taint PETRONAS’s name in the local mindset. Remind me to set up my own news outlet whenever I work for PETRONAS overseas.

From The Mirror, dateline 2010-04-14:

Jason Read, 39, from the Portsmouth area, was killed on April 5 when his car was ambushed near Danot town in the conflict-ravaged Ogaden region in the south east of the country.

He worked for IMC Geophysics International Ltd, which was subcontracted to the Malaysian oil giant PETRONAS, which is investigating the death along with the local authorities.

Reported in Antara News:

London (ANTARA News/AFP) – Seorang warga Inggris yang bekerja untuk sebuah perusahaan minyak di Ethiopia tewas ditembak, demikian diumumkan Kementerian Luar Negeri Inggris, Jumat.

Pria berusia 39 tahun yang belum diidentifikasi itu dibunuh Senin dekat Danot di daerah Warder, Ethiopia.

Warga Inggris itu bekerja untuk IMC Geophysics International Ltd, perusahaan rekanan PETRONAS Malaysia, kata seorang juru bicara kementerian itu. (M014/K004)

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From The Star – Plant in peninsula to ensure LNG supply continuity

April 18, 2010

Here’s a sign that PETRONAS is definite that there will not be enough local gas production offshore Peninsular Malaysia. And hopefully, our solution is to get gas from East Malaysia. But is it still uneconomical to pipe the gas, rather than convert to LNG, stuff into carriers and ship to the Peninsular?

Or, is this a ploy to increase MISC’s worth? Supply your comments here.

Taken from The Star, dateline 2010-04-12:

AS part of an effort to address the rising demand for gas amid a diminishing natural gas supply in Peninsular Malaysia, it has been revealed that a new LNG (liquefied natural gas) regassification plant will soon be built.

Analysts who attended a recent briefing session with PETRONAS Gas Bhd learnt of the plan from its managing director, Samsuddin Miskon.

No formal announcement about the plan has been made yet by parent company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS), but it is understood that the main reason for the regassification plant is to ensure the continuity of gas supply in the peninsula.

How does that equation come about?

Well, the regassification plant will enable PETRONAS Gas to take in more gas supply from third parties as the capacity to convert liquefied gas into gas for end- users will be enhanced.

…

You can subscribe to an online version of the paper at the Bluehyppo site, follow links to e-browse.

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From the Edge – PETRONAS to list two entities

April 13, 2010

Of course, we didn’t expect PETRONAS to list any of their star entities. My comments: Can someone tell me if  MMHE is the preferred fabricator of choice, esp for deep water structures? As for the Petrochemical entity, I expect profits to drop once PETRONAS Gas goes ahead and finds the guts to revise gas prices.

Now, if they listed PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd, Putrajaya Holdings, PETRONAS NGV, Institute Teknologi Petroleum PETRONAS, these would be game changers.

Dateline 2010-04-09:

KUALA LUMPUR: The proposed listing of Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) petroleum chemicals business and its heavy engineering arm will bring about a potential rerating of O&G supporting companies, says OSK Research.

The research house said on Friday, April 9 that currently, the O&G sector is trading at an attractive average PER of 13x FY10 EPS and 11x FY11 EPS.

“We believe that if Petronas floats these 2 businesses at a higher PER valuation, this would bring about a potential rerating of O&G supporting companies, some of which are still trading at single digit valuations due to the nature of their business and the lack of excitement in the sector,” OSK Research added.

…

You can subscribe to an online version of the paper at the Bluehyppo site, follow links to e-browse.

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Cameron and Natco – A Cosy Family

April 11, 2010

Here’s some old news I only heard recently. To quote from the website:

Cameron acquires NATCO and integrates NATCO with Petreco to create Cameron’s Process Systems, the industry’s Total Solution Provider.

Hmm, I haven’t heard of Process Systems, so either it reaaaally isn’t the industry’s TSP, or I’m way behind on reading my trade paper subscriptions.

Now, Cameron has offices in Malaysia which are PETRONAS licensed. So, I wonder how the Scomi Natco tie-up via Scomi NTC is going to proceed?

Then again, Cameron provides valves to UOP, a competitor to NATCO, so I guess companies will jump in bed with whoever provides the most pleasing outcome.

Here’s how I perceive the services provided by the companies mentioned above:

  • Cameron – Wellhead equipment
  • NATCO – Separation solutions
  • Scomi – hmmm, I have had no technical dealings with them. Though it does crop up in the news for other reasons.
  • UOP – Separation solutions

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From the Star – Is PETRONAS on the Right Track (PT 2)

April 9, 2010

Continuing from Part I, Taken from The Star, deadline 2010-03-20:

How do we compare with Nigeria, Venezuela, Indonesia, Alaska and Norway, all oil-producing countries, in terms of management of the oil revenue and spending?

…

On the macro-policy side it is clear that, instead of using our oil revenues to encourage high income generation activities in the late 1990s, we have committed to rely on labour-intensive manufacturing

…

The Star PETRONAS

You can subscribe to an online version of the paper at the Bluehyppo site, follow links to e-browse.

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Petronas denies oil field find

March 28, 2010

My take: PETRONAS might be coy with this information until the current royalty issues are sorted out. Or maybe they don’t want to be seen as bailing out the nation in the near future. Or maybe Kuli was just plain wrong.

Can anyone donate a copy of ‘The Young Turks of PETRONAS‘? I’ve been meaning to read it, but haven’t been able to get my hands on it yet. Maybe if it gets translated to the Kindle
, and maybe when the Kindle finally gets to our shores…

Taken from The Star, deadline 2010-03-25:

KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas has strongly denied reports that it has made a big discovery of an oil field which is said to be one of the biggest in the world.

“We adopt a well-established reporting process whereby we make progress report to the board and stake holders as well as to the Government.

“There is no way we are hiding any information with regards to the discovery as we have no intention to hide any news,” exploration and production business vice-president Ramlan A Malek told a media briefing yesterday.

He added that an announcement would have already been made if the company had found a big oil field.

You can subscribe to an online version of the paper at the Bluehyppo site, follow links to e-browse.

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From the Star – Is PETRONAS on the Right Track

March 26, 2010

Taken from The Star, deadline 2010-03-21:

Many nations blessed with rich resources have enjoyed economic booms, but many have also been cursed by it. So what is Malaysia’s standing among the world matrix of oil-producing nations, and how well are we managing our oil revenue?

IN 1973, OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) unexpectedly imposed a six month embargo on oil supplies, inducing the first global oil shock. Malaysia’s response to that was the incorporation of PETRONAS as the Malaysian oil corporation. The timing seemed right given that in 1971 the price of oil was just US$1.50 but by 1974 it was already averaging US$12 per barrel, making it viable for PETRONAS to extract oil from our off-shore reserves.

…

You can subscribe to an online version of the paper at the Bluehyppo site, follow links to e-browse.

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