Talisman Malaysia Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Talisman Energy Inc, a global, diversified, upstream oil and gas company headquartered in Canada, says it is committed to providing employment opportunities to national staff in all the locations it operates in.
Vice president and Country manager for Talisman Malaysia Ron Aston said in Malaysia, the majority of its workforce, numbering around 800 permanent or contract staff, consists of Malaysians, including Sabahans.
"We will shortly open an office in the KK Times Square with an interior built by a local contractor and we will engage local companies to provide support services to run that office.
"In addition, Talisman employees from the Kuala Lumpur office will regularly travel to Sabah for business which will contribute towards local economic growth," he said in his remarks at the Talisman and Sabah media social networking event here last night attended by Sabah Journalists Association
president Datuk Joniston Bangkuai.
Aston said in May last year, Talisman was awarded a new production sharing contract (PSC) - the Kinabalu Oil PSC for the continued development and recovery from the Kinabalu Field which had previously been operated by Shell.
"We assumed operatorship of this mature field on Dec 26 last year," he said.
He said uder the terms of the PSC, Talisman and Petronas Carigali are committed to investing around US$1 billion on the field through an extensive programme of rejuvenation and redevelopment aimed at fully realising the recovery potential of the field.
On corporate social responsibility (CSR), Aston said Talisman is committed to investing in the communities where it operates.
"We see this as our responsibility and firmly believe that business is not just about making a profit, but also doing the right thing. As such, we conduct our business in an ethical, socially and environmentally responsible manner.
"Our community investments are focused on the three key pillars of education, the environment, and health and well-being," he said.
Under its scholarship programme from 2008 through to 2014, Talisman Malaysia will award almost US$0.5 million to the best and brightest engineering and geology students from across Malaysia at a number of prestigious universities in Peninsular Malaysia.
Aston said to date Talisman Malaysia has contributed almost RM400,000 to the Malaysian Nature Society to facilitate environmental monitoring for marine and coastal ecosystems in Terengganu, and in Sabah.
"The project is designed to empower local stakeholders to monitor the condition of coastal ecosystems within their surrounding area. Local stakeholders are trained to undertake monitoring activities using simple monitoring methods in order to understand the state of these ecosystems over time, and future CSR activity in Sabah will include working with local NGOs," he added.
Aston said Talisman Malaysia recognises that a strong relationship with local media will go a long way in creating credibility, reliability and trust which will result in a win-win situation.-- Bernama