The company is back in the oil and gas game in Malaysia and it expects more projects from Petronas, says Ranhill executive director
ENGINEERING and construction group Ranhill Bhd says the RM1.08 billion contract it won recently for a regasification project in Malacca will help sustain its involvement in the oil and gas sector.
"Winning the job means our core business of engineering and expertise are being recognised. It speaks well of us.
"Locally we are back in the (oil and gas) game and we expect more projects from Petronas," Ranhill executive director Datuk Chandrasekar Suppiah told Business Times in an interview.
A consortium led by Ranhill was recently awarded the construction of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification unit, together with island berth and subsea pipeline, by Petronas Gas Bhd.
The two-member consortium comprises Ranhil's unit, Ranhill WorleyParsons Sdn Bhd with a 70 per cent stake, and Muhibbah Engineering Bhd (30 per cent).
Chandrasekar said Ranhill WorleyParsons is on the right footing to secure more jobs, with marginal fields currently in the play and Petronas expanding its global reach.
Ranhill president and chief executive Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad said the RM1.08 Petronas job will contribute positively to its earnings as early as this year.
"This is a big win for us and it will showcase our expertise and capabilities in engineering," Hamdan said.
The consortium is expected to start construction in April and complete the job by the end of July 2012.
The facilities, which will be located near Sungai Udang Port in Malacca, will have a maximum send-out gas capacity of 3.8 million tonnes per year.
Hamdan said central to the facilities is the regasification plant that will regasify LNG, after which the gas will be transmitted into the Peninsular Gas Utilisation pipeline.
Meanwhile, Chandrasekar said he expects Ranhill to do better this year and going forward due to better prospects, driven by its strategic planning.
For the first quarter ended September 30 2010, Ranhill posted a net profit of RM15.6 million on the back of RM443 million revenue.
Ranhill currently has RM7 billion worth of jobs in hand, with a healthy 58.3 per cent being international contracts and 41.7 per cent local.
Chandrasekar said Ranhill is bidding for bigger projects in Malaysia under the Economic Transformation Programme, and in the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia, worth over RM2 billion.
The projects are mainly in areas of power, water, oil and gas, as well as infrastructure involving highways, railways, bridges, ports, airports, hospitals and academic facilities.
"Ranhill is in the game for most of the projects as we have expertise in four core areas. That has always been our winning point," Chandrasekar said.
