Malaysia hopes to attract 10 to 20 major international companies in the oilfield services and equipment (OFSE) industry to bring about 10% of their business operations here.
“This could translate to around 40% of their regional activities and would mean positioning Malaysia as a cost-competitive base for engineering, procurement and construction as well as a strategic base for installation activities in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in his key note address at the Oil and Gas Asia 2011 conference yesterday.
“To achieve such lofty ambitions, we are fully aware that there is a need for a one-stop government body with sufficiently deep industry knowledge and expertise that focuses on coordinating and promoting the Malaysia OFSE industry,” he said.
The deputy prime minister said the one-stop government body, the Malaysia Petroleum Resource Corp (MPRC), will look into creating an attractive business environment for multinational companies by ensuring administrative ease for the OFSE industry and promote the local OFSE industry abroad.
The establishment of MPRC was mooted by the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) in the Prime Minister’s Department. Details of the corporation have yet to be announced.
Muhyiddin said there are a significant number of business opportunities in the oil, gas and energy sector in Malaysia because the country’s offshore producing fields are more mature than those of its neighbours.
“There will be tremendous commercial opportunities for maintenance and replacement of assets in addition to development of new fields, which will continue to drive growth in this key sector,” he said.
The global OFSE market is valued at RM800 billion, he said, with growth of 25% a year in recent years. The Asian market for oil services alone has grown by about 20% annually over the last decade.
“The sector outlook continues to be bright, driven by the upbeat outlook for offshore exploration activity in Southeast Asia, tight gas development across Asia and the liquefied natural gas (LNG) boom in Australia,” he said.
