Sapura expects more jobs on top of US$14.3b already in prospects

Sapura Energy Bhd is seeing more jobs in the horizon in addition to the US$14.3 billion already in prospects this year despite a sharp decline in oil price to below US$60 a barrel.

The integrated oil and gas services company, which has presence in over 20 countries, believes the current oil price level will not put a brake on contract flows in the years to come.

Sapura Energy president and group chief executive officer Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin said oil majors as well as independents and national oil companies were expected to continue with their exploration and production (E&P) activities to maintain production at current levels.

"At this current price level, it is enough (for E&P players) to make projects viable and earn margins. The current oil price is not really a concern for us. We are comfortable with the current level," Shahril said after the company's extraordinary general meeting here.

"(For oil and gas service contracts), hopefully we will win more next year. Yes, there will be more jobs next year by the oil majors, independents and national oil companies," he added.

Other than providing oil and gas services to national oil companies or oil majors, Sapura Energy is also involved in E&P activities.

For its oil and gas services segment, it has tendered for US$14.3 billion worth of jobs this year.

The firm will find out if it wins any of them in the next six to 12 months.

As of today, the firm had secured US$8.8 billion worth of work, which will keep its earnings sustained for the next three years.

Oil price, which is now trading at US$60 a barrel, has been affected by the trade war between the two largest economies, United States and China.

However, oil majors were reportedly still spending albeit with capital discipline as they saw growth in certain regions such as Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Meanwhile, Shahril said the under-subscription of its rights issue exercise was due to unfavourable investors' sentiment.

"I think the sentiments during the rights issue was a bit muddled because there were so many conflicts. There was conflict between US and China and globally on trade that caused a lot of foreign investors to be a bit shy and local investors too.

"Institutions held back because they were uncertain of the industry's recovery. Unless you are in the business, you cannot see the pick-up in activity in the sector," he said.

However, Shahril said the emergence of Permodalan Nasional Bhd as its largest shareholder was a testament to the firm's growth potential.

Meanwhile, Sapura Energy shareholders have given the nod for the group's joint venture with OMV Aktiengesellschaft.

OMV is buying a 50 per cent stake in Sapura Upstream Sdn Bhd for total proceeds of US$975 million (RM4 billion).

Alam Maritim gets RM25m supply vessel jobs from Petronas

Alam Maritim Resources Bhd announced today its unit has secured work orders worth some RM24.62 million from Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd for the provision of three platform supply vessels (PSVs).

In a stock exchange filing, Alam Maritim said the value of the jobs, which were awarded to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Alam Maritim (M) Sdn Bhd recently, included extensions for up to 30 days.

Of the three jobs, one started on Sept 21, 2018 and will be for a firm charter duration of up to 124 days, whereas the other two — for a longer period of 181 days — began two months later.

Alam Maritim said the work orders are expected to contribute positively to its earnings and net tangible assets for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2018 (FY18) to FY23.

Last year, the group secured four five-year contracts to provide pan-Malaysia underwater services for petroleum arrangement contractors from Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd and Enquest Petroleum Production Malaysia Ltd, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc, and Hess Exploration and Production Malaysia BV.

Alam Maritim previously said the jobs under the four contracts would be on a regular or call-out basis, whereby work orders will be issued by the client based on the schedule of rates as set forth in the contracts.

Petronas, Saudi Aramco alliance commences start-up of refinery in Johor

Pengerang Refining and Petrochemical (PRefChem), a strategic alliance between Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Saudi Aramco), has commenced the start-up of its refinery in Pengerang, Johor through the firing up of the complex's crude distillation unit. With this, the group expects the refinery to be ready for commercial operations by the fourth quarter of 2019. 

In a statement yesterday, PRefChem said the refinery, with a capacity of 300,000 barrels of crude per day, will produce refined petroleum products including gasoline and diesel upon its completion — meeting Euro 5 fuel specifications. 

The refinery will also provide feedstock for the integrated petrochemicals complex, with a capacity to produce 3.3 million tonnes per year. 

"Today, the refinery has achieved mechanical completion and is now in full commission, marking the beginning of start-ups in subsequent facilities within this integrated development," said PRefChem chief executive officer Dr Colin Wong Hee Huing.

Petronas's Unity fields in South Sudan starts pumping more crude oil

South Sudan started pumping on Monday an additional 15,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from its Unity oilfields, its oil minister said.

Oil minister Ezekiel Lul Gatkuoth told Reuters on Sunday the country had begun to repair wells damaged in the civil war and that wells reopening on Monday would add 12,000 bpd to output, rising to 70,000 bpd by the end of 2019.

Prior to the increase, production was at 160,000 bpd.

"Today, officially, Unity Oil production is opened," Gatkuoth said during a ceremony at the field, hailing cooperation with neighbouring Sudan which he said was "unbreakable" and would lead to the opening of new blocks.

South Sudan's oil infrastructure was badly damaged in its civil war, which broke out in 2013, two years after it had become independent from Sudan.

Production plunged to less than half of pre-war levels, but wells are being repaired with the help of the Sudanese, said Gatkuoth. Malaysia's Petronas, India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC Videsh) and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) all have stakes in South Sudanese fields.

"We promise that this is going to be on stream and we can expect the production to increase," Sudan's oil minister, Azhari Abdel Qader, said.

Cargoes have been booked until the end of March, Gatkuoth said, but now there would be additional oil for sale. South Sudan's Dar blend is currently being sold for $61 per barrel.

Sudan receives between about $9-11 per barrel of oil that landlocked South Sudan pumps through its pipeline to the port, the minister said.

Petronas perlu mendapatkan lesen, permit dan pajakan cari gali minyak dari Sarawak

KUCHING: Syarikat petroleum negara, Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) perlu mendapatkan lesen, permit, pajakan atau kebenaran sepertimana syarikat cari gali minyak lain di negeri ini bermula Julai ini.

Menteri Muda Undang-undang, Hubungan Pusat-Negeri dan Pemantauan Projek Sarawak, Sharifah Hasidah Sayed Aman Ghazali berkata, peruntukan tersebut termaktub dalam Ordinan Perlombongan Minyak Sarawak 1954 dan Petronas tidak terkecuali.

"Malah Ketua Menteri, Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg menyatakan perkara ini dengan jelas sewaktu pelancaran Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros) serta beberapa majlis tertutup lain.

"Justeru tidak timbul soal 'pertindihan kuasa perundangan' di antara ordinan negeri dan akta persekutuan berkait isu pemilikan sumber asli minyak dan gas di Sarawak," katanya ketika dihubungi sarawakvoice.com hari ini .

Menurutnya, tafsiran sesetengah pihak bahawa Ordinan Pelombongan Minyak 1958 mengatasi Akta Pembangunan Petroleum 1974 sebenarnya 'tidak lagi timbul'.

"Segala-galanya telah jelas, dan seperti kata Ketua Menteri, pengembalian hak ini sudah dipersetujui oleh Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak secara terbuka.

Katanya, lesen, permit, pajakan dan kebenaran yang dikehendaki oleh Ordinan Perlombongan Minyak 1958 atau Ordinan Pengedaran Gas 2016 adalah berkaitan kawalan peraturan dalam soal carian, edaran dan sebagainya minyak dan gas di Sarawak.

"Justeru ia membawa maksud kita telah 'memiliknegerikan' kembali hak kita yang selama ini terselindung.

Hasidah berkata, Sarawak akan meneruskan usaha rundingan 'Penurunan Kuasa' dengan Kerajaan Pusat memandangkan masih banyak isu yang belum diselesaikan.

"Tidak semua perkara dapat kita capai sekali gus dalam masa yang sesingkat ini.

"Tetapi kita berada pada landasan yang betul dan rundingan akan berlaku secara berperingkat.

"Yang penting kita mahu kejayaan yang besar dan mendatangkan impak," katanya lagi. –Sarawakvoice

At least 73 people killed, dozens injured in Mexico gasoline pipeline explosion

At least 73 people were killed in central Mexico after a ruptured gasoline pipeline exploded Friday evening, the governor of the State of Hidalgo, Omar Fayad, said Saturday in a news conference in Mexico City.

At least 74 people were injured, with seven of those under the age of 18 and one was 12 years old, Fayad said. He said some of the minors will be transferred to Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston, Texas.

He noted a large number of people were around the pipeline, some of whom were wearing clothes made with synthetic fibers that could "generate electric reactions."

He said no arrests have been made and that witnesses will be interviewed Sunday.

The fire resulting from the pipeline explosion has been extinguished, Mexican Secretary of Public Security Alfonso Durazo said on Twitter, and rescue teams have begun to recover bodies.

Residents in the immediate vicinity of the pipeline, which runs from the cities of Tuxpan to Tula, have been evacuated, State oil company Pemex said.

Pemex said an investigation into the cause of the blast was underway. The company initially had said the explosion was caused by illegal taps in the pipeline. The governor of the State of Hidalgo, Omar Fayad, called on the community not to steal gasoline.

President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who visited Tlahuelilpan and met with officials at a command center, said pipelines will be monitored to avoid fuel theft.

Bintulu Port cancels Muhibbah's contract

Muhibbah Engineering (M) Bhd said it has lost the contract to build a supply base whaft at the Bintulu Port in Sarawak.

"The company wishes to announce that Muhibbah Viccana JV has on Jan 17 received a notice from Bintulu Port Authority to terminate the contract," it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Thursday.

Muhibbah, which owns a 51% stake in the joint venture company, won the RM584.84mil contract on April 28, 2017. The project was supposed to be completed by the end of this year.

The company said it is in negotiation and discussion with Bintulu Port Authority over the notice of termination. It expects "a fair compensation" with respect to the termination of the contract.

Barakah unit secures five-year service contract from Petrofac

Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd's unit has won a five-year contract to service Petrofac (Malaysia-PM304) Ltd's oil and gas fields offshore peninsular Malaysia.

In an exchange filing today, the group said the contract, awarded to its wholly-owned subsidiary PBJV Group Sdn Bhd for the years 2018 to 2023, includes Pan Malaysian maintenance, construction and modification works for structures and facilities for the client's oil and gas fields.

The contract's total value is not fixed and will depend on the actual scope based on work orders to be issued by the client from time to time throughout the contract duration, which is effective for five years from July 17, 2018.

Barakah expects the contract to contribute positively to its earnings and net assets during the period.

Yesterday, the debt-laden company announced it was still negotiating an amicable debt settlement proposal with its lenders and creditors.

That statement came after Kuala Lumpur High Court's order to restraint any proceedings and actions by the lenders against Barakah and PBJV expired on Monday. 

The restraining order was obtained on Oct 12 last year.

Shares in the Main Market-listed group slid half a sen lower to close at 5.5 sen today, giving the oil and gas service provider a market capitalisation of RM45.97 million.

Sarawak trains villagers near gas-pipe route for emergencies

MIRI: The villagers living along the Sarawak-Sabah interstate gas-pipe route in Lawas district of northern Sarawak are being trained to deal with any possible fire-explosion incidents.

Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department and Petronas are initiating an action-plan for the villagers whose settlements are located along the huge pipeline.

The Fire and Rescue Department, in its latest updates, said it had deployed personnel to meet the villagers.

"Together with Petronas, we have drawn up an action plan on safety aspects for villagers living along the gas pipe route.

On Jan 10 last year, there was an eruption along the section of the giant pipeline near the Long Luping settlement, located adjacent of the Sarawak-Sabah border.

That was the second time in four years that the pipeline had erupted.

Petronas carried out a thorough check of the pipes after the incident.

Apart from Long Luping, there are populated settlements of Long Semadoh and Long Sukang, and then the Lawas hinterland where the pipes connect to the Baram side and towards Miri and Bintulu.

The pipeline is to channel gas from Kimanis in interior Sabah to Bintulu port in northern Sarawak for processing and export.

The pipeline was a RM4bil project by Petronas that started about 10 years ago.

The entire length of the pipeline, snaking through the rural frontiers, is 600km.

TheStar

Pipe layer abandoned after collision with tanker off Singapore

Chemical tanker ANTEA, which left Singapore early in the morning Jan 13, en route to Ambon Indonesia, collided with pipe layer STAR CENTURION in vicinity 01 24N 104 35E, some 10 nm north of Berakit, Bintan island, eastern Singapore Strait waters, reportedly at night Jan 13.

22 personnel on board of pipe layer abandoned the on a lifeboat and were rescied, no injures reported.

Abandoned STAR CENTURION remained submerged, understood still afloat, near collision site. No information yet on tanker's damages, and tanker's position as of morning Jan 14.

Update: Pipe layer portside hull was preached with following massive water ingress, the ship is half-submerged but still afloat.

Update: Pipe layer reportedly sank after capsizing, but some information hints at STA CENTURION being still afloat, though nearly fully submerged. ANTEA suffered damaged bow and forecastle. Obviously, tanker struck pipe laying ship portside.

IMRRA, FleetMon's official Vessel Risk Rating Partner, risk assessed this tanker as having a 'amber' risk rating, with a specific risk rating of 37% (22-JAN-18), compared to the fleet average 35%.