SABAH’S OIL CURSE STRIKES AGAIN

Sabah’s oil curse strikes again

Poverty-riddled Sabah is the sixth biggest contributor to the national economy, contributing more than a quarter of the total oil and gas produced in the country.

KOTA KINABALU 12/11/2012: Sabah lost control of its oil wealth more than 30 years ago but the fallout of the widely acknowledged cock-eyed contract is continuing to roil business dealings in the state.

The state Barisan Nasional government is now facing more questions over how it is managing the Petronas-sponsored Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) project that began more than a year ago.

RM8.5BIL NEW OIL & GAS STORAGE FACILITY IN SIPITANG SABAH TO BE UNDERTAKEN BY HALIM SAAD’S ARMADA

RM8.5bil new O&G storage facility to be undertaken by Halim Saad’s Armada

PETALING JAYA 2/10/2012: A new facility for oil and gas (O&G) storage and refining to be known as Sabah Oil Terminal, is being planned in Sipitang, Sabah at an estimated cost of RM8.5bil, sources said.

The sources said that a 1,000-acre site at the Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial Park has been allocated for this development which would be undertaken by Armada Sdn Bhd beginning next year.

MICCI WANTS ENOUGH GAS FOR SABAH’S OWN DEVT

MICCI wants enough gas for Sabah’s own devt

KOTA KINABALU July 4, 2012: Malaysia International Chambers of Commerce and Industry (MICCI) Sabah Branch wants the state government to continue pushing Petronas to ensure there is enough gas for Sabah’s own development.

“We strongly request the state government to urge Petronas to commit that in all its projects, the first opportunity is given to local consultants and qualified local companies so they will not end up being sub-contractors or sub, sub, sub contractors earning mere peanuts,” said MICCI Sabah Branch chairman, Datuk A Arulpragasam.

PUSAT LATIHAN PETROLEUM KIMANIS BUKA PELUANG RAKYAT SABAH TEMPAH KARIER DALAM INDUSTRI MINYAK DAN GAS

Pusat Latihan Petroleum Kimanis buka peluang rakyat Sabah tempah karier dalam industri minyak dan gas

MEMBAKUT 10th October, 2011 : Pusat Latihan Petroleum Kimanis di sini membuka peluang kepada penduduk Sabah, terutama mereka yang tinggal di kawasan pantai barat negeri, melibat diri dalam kerjaya industri minyak dan gas.

Menteri Luar Datuk Seri Anifah Aman berkata pusat latihan yang dikendalikan Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) dan boleh menampung 50 pelatih itu juga meyakinkan masyarakat tempatan bahawa penglibatan mereka penting dalam membangunkan industri minyak dan gas di Sabah, terutama apabila Terminal Minyak dan Gas Sabah (SOGT) di Kimanis dekat sini, beroperasi sepenuhnya pada 2013.

"SASARAN UTAMA SOGCA IALAH UNTUK MENUNJUKKAN HASRAT FIRMA-FIRMA TEMPATAN SABAH UNTUK MENGAMBIL BAHAGIAN DALAM INDUSTRI MINYAK DAN GAS DI MALAYSIA TIMUR," - ISKANDAR

Projek Petronas Akan Majukan Sabah, Kata Persatuan Kontraktor

KOTA KINABALU, 18 Sept (Bernama) -- Persatuan Kontraktor Minyak dan Gas Sabah (SOGCA) menyifatkan kehadiran Petronas di Sabah akan menyumbang dengan ketara kepada pembangunan negeri itu.

Presidennya Datuk Iskandar Malik berkata Petronas telah menunjukkan keikhlasan dalam membawa pembangunan minyak dan gas ke Sabah.

 "Ya, kami gembira dengan peranan Petronas di Sabah dan itulah sebabnya kami membentuk SOGCA kerana kami percaya Petronas diuruskan dengan baik.

"Bagi kami, Petronas milik setiap rakyat Malaysia dan kami seharusnya berkongsi peluang yang diberikan oleh syarikat minyak negara itu,"

KIMANIS SET TO PROVIDE MORE POWER AND JOBS

Kimanis set to provide more power and jobs

KOTA KINABALU 2011/05/24: More jobs will be created as the oil and gas industry expands in Kimanis.

Sabah Industrial Development Minister Datuk Raymond Tan Shu Kiah said this when he witnessed the signing of an agreement for the construction of a 300mw independent gas-fired power plant in Kimanis worth RM1 billion.

The Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning (EPCC) contract was signed between Kimanis Power (KPSB)'s managing director M. Ali Hashim and CTCI Consortium's chairman and chief executive officer John T. Yu. The plan is due to start operation by 2013.

Tan said the power plant would boost supply to the state and, at the same time, attract more investments and create more employment, especially for the local people.

"This power plant helps us in making sure there will be sufficient electricity available in Sabah, particularly in the west coast areas, for long-term use as well as for domestic and industrial use.

"Space is also allocated to build another 100mw-block should the electricity demand in the state increase in the future."

Tan said the plant would be run by a team of 90 Malaysians, mostly Sabahans.

Meanwhile, Petronas Sabah and Labuan general manager Joseph Podtung said the national oil and gas company would open a training institution in 2013 to train locals as well as those from the region.

For now, a temporary centre will be opened by July with 25 trainees in Membakut.

Petronas has trained over 300 people from Sabah in collaboration with various institutions. The power plant project is undertaken by KPSB, a joint-venture company between Petronas Gas Berhad and NRG Consortium, a wholly-owned company of the Yayasan Sabah Group.

CTCI Consortium, consisting of Taiwanese engineering firm CTCI Corporation and two Malaysian firms, Synerlitz and SCHB Engineering, will oversee the construction of the three-block power plant, which began in April this year.

SABAH MUST GET AN OIL REFINERY

‘Musa must get Sabah an oil refinery’

Putrajaya's refusal to build an oil refinery in Sabah could prove fatal to Barisan Nasional going into the next general election.

KOTA KINABALU May 17, 2011: Oil-rich Sabah, which houses the country’s poorest people, needs its own refinery and Chief Minister Musa Aman must convince the federal government to get Petronas to build such a facility.

This is the advise set out by Barisan Nasional Sabah coalition partner, Parti Bersatu Sabah.

PBS vice-president Herbert Timbun Lagadan said for Sabahans to truly benefit from the proposed Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) in Kimanis, it was essential that a refinery be built here as well.

“Why can’t Sabah have its own oil refinery when Sarawak has its own?

“Since Sabah is a fixed deposit state for the BN government and a major producer of oil and gas, then surely we possess the merit to ask for the facility to be built here,” he said.

Lagadan said it would be the only way to help local companies to tap into the huge potentials the industry would create.

He said, since the federal government had always touted Sabah as a ‘fixed deposit’ state, it had a right to ask for a refinery to be set up to process oil and gas extracted from its own soil.

Lagadan said the federal government’s decision not to give Sabah its own oil refinery was seen as an attempt to sideline Sabahans and curb their particpation in the oil and gas industry.

“Frankly I cannot understand the federal government’s logic or reason as to why we must siphon gas from Sabah to Bintulu … what saving of cost are they talking about?” asked Lagadan.

This is the second time PBS has voiced its displeasure with Umno-led BN. Last week PBS warned the federal leadership that continuing influx of illegal immigrants will prove fatal to the coalition.

Disappointed Sabahans

Another BN partner Upko had also voiced their disappointment at the federal government’s decision to allow Petronas to build the gas pipeline to send gas to Bintulu.

Party president Bernard Dompok said the SOGT project was useless and not beneficial to Sabahans.

Opposition Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) has also rejected the gas pipeiline idea calling it ‘ironic and unnecessary’.

Party president and former chief minister Yong Teck Lee said Sabah should not be sending gas to Sarawak only to buy it back for fuelling the power plants needed to address its electricity woes.

According to mysarawak blogsite, natural gas from Kimanis will be piped through a RM1.6 billion 500km pipeline to Petronas’s LNG complex in Bintulu.

The complex, with a production capacity of 25 million tonnes per annum, is one of the biggest of its kind in the world and exports LNG to three lucrative markets, namely Japan, South Korea and China.

With Sabah in need of the product to run its power plants, there were concerns that the state may have to compete with these international buyers, who are able to offer much higher prices.

RM60BIL PETRONAS PROJECT WILL FUEL MASSIVE SPIN-OFFS, SAYS PM

RM60bil Petronas project will fuel massive spin-offs, says PM

KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas will invest in a major RM60bil integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in Pengerang, Johor, touted to be its largest.

To be known as the Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development (Rapid) project, it is is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2016, as part of the national oil company's efforts to expand its downstream production.

In appreciation: Najib receiving the logo of the Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development (Rapid) project from Petronas president and CEO Datuk Shamsul Azhar Abbas after his announcement at the Petronas headquarters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. – AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak confirmed this, following aStarBiz breaking news story on Wednesday.

The mammoth project is expected to create at least 20,000 jobs during the construction phase and 4,000 potential jobs for highly-skilled workers.

This does not include the many spin-offs in related sectors, Najib said when announcing the project at the Petronas headquarters here yesterday.

“It is truly a remarkable initiative and a significant landmark for Malaysia. The project presents Malaysia with a major vehicle to attract foreign direct investments, bolster private investment and expand the country's access to world-class technologies.

“It will also provide avenues for a new generation of technical professionals to develop their skills and capabilities,” he said, adding that the Government would provide its full support and assistance.

The Rapid project, Najib said, would consist of three main components:

> A crude oil refinery with a capacity of about 300,000 barrels per day, larger than the combined capacities of its refineries in Malacca and Kerteh.

> A naphtha cracker with the ability to produce three million tonnes of ethylene, propylene as well as C4 and C5 olefins; and

> A joint petrochemical development with a combined production capacity of three million tonnes per year, more than the combined production capacities of its integrated complexes in Kerteh and Gebeng, Pahang.

Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said although the Rapid project was not part of the entry point projects under the Economic Transformation Programme, it was still in line with plans to turn Malaysia into a leading petroleum industry hub in the region.

The area, Najib said, was chosen because of its large land acreage, strategic location near major international shipping lanes, deepwater port facilities and proximity to regional demand centres.

PETRONAS TO BUILD RM3 BLN MEGA AMMONIA UREA PLANT IN SIPITANG – RAYMOND TAN

Petronas to build RM3 bln mega ammonia urea plant in Sipitang – Raymond Tan

9th March, 2011 KOTA KINABALU: Petronas will be investing RM3 billion to build a mega ammonia urea plant in Sipitang.

Industrial Development Minister Datuk Raymond Tan said the plant is expected to be ready by 2013 in time for the gas from the northern field (block J) of Sabah to be channel to Bintulu via Sipitang in 2013-14.

“This is their first urea plant in this region and as an anchor industry, they will need about 70-80 million scf of gas to power the plant,” he said at the Ministry of Industrial Development (MID) annual media conference 2011 at a hotel here yesterday.

He said the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) in Kimanis will be getting 750 million scf of gas from the north field and it will be piped to Sipitang before it is diverted to Bintulu.

On the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park, (KKIP) which had been established for the past 15 years with over 70 percent already developed, Raymond said the remaining 30 percent of the development will be focused on the bio-technology, wood and rubber-based industry which is contained in the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

“And since Sabah is the biggest producer in the oil palm industry in Malaysia with 1.4 million hectares of oil palm, producing 6.5 million tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO) and 1 million tonnes of palm kernel oil, we have 30 million tonnes of valuable palm oil biomass which is actually a waste product that had been thrown away from the mills in Sabah that are operated by some 127 operators now,” he said.

But what have come about in the new area of development is that those waste that were discarded are valuable today, because from the biomass we can produce fertilizers, another line of downstream activity, he said.

He said there are now five to six players that have set up their plants to produce fertilizers at the POIC Lahad Datu.

And the challenge now is how much biomass or the empty fruit bunch that we can get to supply to the plants and POIC Lahad Datu has taken the initiative to buy the waste product to keep it as stock so as to encourage the downstream activity.

Overall, he said the challenges confronting the economy in 2010 are expected to persist through 2011.

He noted that the declining investment in the manufacturing sector in Sabah could be due to several factors, one of them being the dampened world economic growth and trade. Another is the increasing competition from the new emerging regional economies such as Vietnam.

A survey by UNCTAD’s World Investment Prospects indicates renewed business optimism and stronger appetite of investors to pursue expansion in 2011 and 2012. Given the scenario, global FDIinflows into our country are expected to further increase in 2011 and beyond.

To position Sabah as a desired destination for investment, Raymond said his ministry will continue with its efforts to attract investors in targeted industries such as downstream processing of palm oil, processing of oil palm/palm oil biomass and in the medium term, the processing of oil and gas as well as the service sector.

The task ahead is very challenging, and therefore the coordinated effort of all ministries, departments and the agencies in Sabah is necessary if Sabah is to maintain its competitiveness and to continue to receive high levels of foreign and domestic investment, he said.

STATE MUST STOP PIPING GAS TO SARAWAK ONLY TO BUY IT BACK

‘Sabah needs own gas pipeline’

February 21, 2011 KOTA KINABALU: Sabah must have a gas pipeline connecting Kimanis and Sandakan or it may end up competing with foreign countries for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Bintulu, according to opposition leader Yong Teck Lee.

Yong, a former chief minister of the state, called on the state government to get Sabah out of the ironical situation of piping natural gas to Bintulu only to buy it back as LNG.

His remarks were occasioned by the government’s announcement that it had opted for a gas-powered plant in Sandakan to meet Sabah’s electricity needs instead of a coal-powered plant in Lahad Datu.

“If our gas power plant in Sandakan has to rely on LNG from Bintulu, then Sabah will have to compete with foreign countries for the LNG,” Yong said. “Obviously, prices and energy security will be uncertain.”

Sabah natural gas lands at Kimanis and is piped through a RM1.6 billion, 500km pipeline to Petronas’s LNG complex in Bintulu. The complex, with a capacity of 25 million tonnes per annum, is one of the biggest of its kind in the world.

“That complex exports LNG to Japan, South Korea and China, three lucrative markets for Petronas,” said Yong.

If Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd were to play less than the international market price for LNG, then “disputes over subsidies” would arise, he added.

“We currently have an ironical situation whereby if the market prices for our own petroleum go up, then we end up paying more for the fuel.”

He said Sabah, as a producer of petroleum and gas, should profit instead of suffer when the prices of these commodities rose.

Profit-making giant

Yong, who leads the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP), scoffed at Chief Minister Musa Aman’s explanation about Sarawak taking Sabah gas and giving it back in the form of LNG, saying he was being simplistic.

He said neither the gas nor the LNG was controlled by either of the two state governments, “but by Petronas, which is a profit-making giant that is a government within a government.”

He said it was SAPP’s view that a gas pipeline from Kimanis to Sandakan would be the best long- term solution.

“We reject the excuse that a Kimanis-Sandakan pipeline is costly because it will cost much less that the pipeline to Bintulu.”

Yong also noted that the federal government had guaranteed Sabah that it would get all the natural gas that it needed, that only surplus gas would be piped to Bintulu.

“Even the pipeline to Bintulu was supposed to have provisions for Sabah’s own domestic needs,” he said.

“These were the guarantees given to Sabah in 2008 when the then prime minister (Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) reneged on his promise to scrap the Bintulu pipeline project.

“Having lost three million acres of oil rich maritime territory in Oil Blocks L and M to Brunei recently, Sabah has every right to demand that we have all of our remaining natural gas for our own needs.

“Petronas, by the way, will be profiting from the joint exploitation of Oil Blocks L and M with Brunei.”

SABAH CHIPPED IN ABOUT 26.9% OF MALAYSIA OVERALL CRUDE OIL OUTPUT, TOTALED MORE THAN 637,000 DRUMS DAILY - MUSA

Quarter of the nation's crude oil from Sabah

January 09, 2011 Kota Kinabalu: Sabah contributed more than quarter of the nation's crude oil last year.

Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Aman said the State chipped in about 26.9 per cent of the country's overall crude oil output, which totaled more than 637,000 drums daily.

The oil and gas industry was one of the main contributors to Sabah's economic sustainability, he said, adding many large-scale projects in the sector have been developed.

"These includes the Kikeh Oil Field, which is the first offshore deepwater oil field in Malaysia and the Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) in Kimanis as the industry's hub in the State's West Coast," he said during the Petronas Petroleum Technology Institute (Instep) 2010 Convocation, Saturday.

 "I am confident the sector has the potential to grow even further in future."

In the same breath, Musa said such development could only be achieved with skilled and experienced labour such as those produced by national oil company Petronas.

"The training programme by Petronas through Instep is a good platform to guide the younger generation to fulfill the human capital demand in this industry," he said.

The Chief Minister presented certificates to 211 Sabahan trainees who completed a two-year Petroleum Technology Programme (PTP) that started in 2007 at the Instep campus in Kuala Terengganu.

Many of the students took the one-year PTP1 course while the rest went through the two-year PTP2 that consisted of six fields namely electrical, instrumentation, mechanical, laboratory/analytical, process and distribution.

These Sabahans are part of over 1,000 trainees who completed the PTP, with the convocation here being the third held for this batch, the first being in Kuala Terengganu and the second in Miri last year.

Musa called on the graduates, a majority of them already employed with Petronas subsidiary company, Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, not only to respond to the industry's demands but also to propel oil and gas to be one of the core thrusts of Sabah's economic development, towards a higher income economy as envisioned in the Economic Transformation Programme.

"The State Government appreciates the commitment by Petronas to make highly skilled and competitive human capital out of Sabahans for the industry and other sectors as well," he said.

Meanwhile, Petronas Vice-President for Downstream Operations, Kamarudin Zakaria said having been introduced in 1988, the PTP1 and PTP2 have produced more than 7, 000 graduates, with almost 700 coming from Sabah.

He also said the company's technical education in the State was not only limited to Instep alone but that Petronas also ran other training programmes like installation of gas pipes at the Industrial Training Institute here and structure welding at the Commercial and Technical Training Institute in Papar, among others.

Earlier, Musa also presented the Best Student Award to Canicius Kundayis, a student in the laboratory/analytical course from Tamparuli, who earned a CGPA score of 3.87. The 23-year-old chose oil and gas as his career because of the industry's potential.

He advised those looking to make it in the industry to have a strong will, pointing out it was a challenging sector to work in.

Also present at the convocation were Petronas Sabah and Labuan General Manager, Joseph Podtung, Petronas Human Resource Management, Distribution and Development General Manager, Raiha Azni Ahd Rahman and Instep General Manager, Hj Mohd Zazali Salim.

SOGT – SABAHAN ONLY GET TURNED DOWN ?

SOGT: Pemimpin politik, industri anggap kepentingan Sabah diketepikan

KOTA KINABALU, 25 Ogos — Petronas Carigali bertindak tidak adil kepada Sabah jika betul ia memenganugerahkan projek mega bernilai RM1 bilion untuk membina Terminal Minyak dan Gas (SOGT) di Kimanis kepada sebuah syarikat Sarawak.

Ahli politik dan industri berkata tindakan itu seolah-olah membelakangkan kepentingan  kontraktor tempatan dan penduduk Sabah secara keseluruhannya yang berharap untuk turut meraih manfaat daripada projek yang dibuat di atas tanah mereka sendiri.

Bendahari Agung Pertubuhan Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Bersatu (UPKO), sebuh komponen  Barisan Nasional, Datuk Marcus Mojigoh berkata, beliau tahu ada beberapa syarikat yang cuba melobi untuk mendapatkan kontrak yang lumayan itu.

“Saya tidak tahu butiran mereka tetapi malanglah jika mereka tidak berjaya mendapat kontrak itu.

“Dan terus terang saya katakan, ramai pihak tidak akan senang dengan keadaan ini,” kata Ahli Parlimen ini dan menambah yang beliau tidak terkejut dengan keputusan itu.

Ini katanya, selagi syarikat yang diberi kontrak itu dapat melakukan kerja mereka  dengan baik dan adil membahagikan projek kecil-kecilan kepada syarikat tempatan Sabah, ia lebih baik daripada terus diketepikan.

“Saya mesti akui bahawa Sabah masih belum ada kepakaran yang cukup luas dalam industri minyak dan gas jika dibandingkan dengan Sarawak yang sudah lama dan  berpengalaman dalam bidang ini,” katanya.

Kata beliau yang tidak senang pasti akan mempersoalkan makna integrasi, perpaduan dan konsep 1 Malaysia yang diuar-uarkan pemimpin di peringkat persekutuan tetapi apabila tiba kepada soal kemewahan, Sabah terus dipinggirkan.

Namun sebagai pemimpin dalam BN, beliau akur dengan keputusan kerajaan itu.

“Jika kerajaan nampak tiada kontraktor dari Sabah yang layak untuk menerajuinya, maka itu adalah haknya.

“Namun, saya minta Petronas agar berlaku adil dengan dengan memberi keutamaan kepada kontraktor Sabah ketika mengagih projek kecil-kecilan,” katanya.

Bagi Presiden Pekilang-pekilang Sabah (FSM) Datuk Wong Khen Thau, kerajaan berlaku tidak tidak adil sekali lagi kepada Sabah kerana banyak-banyak pakar yang ada kenapa kontrak itu tidak diberi kepada usahawan berkebolehan Sabah?

Keputusan itu katanya, adalah preregotif Petronas sebagai pemaju projek mega itu, tetapi mempersoalkan kenapa pilih orang Sarawak dan meminta kerajaan telus ketika memberikan kontrak serta memberi sebab kenapa kontraktor Sabah tidak diberi keutamaan.

Katanya, bagaimana mahu melahirkan rakyat yang mempunyai pendapatan tinggi jika anak Sabah selalu diketepikan setiap kali ada projek mega ini.

Majoriti penduduk Sabah miskin dan hidup di bawah paras kemiskinan, katanya.

“Projek ini sudah terlepas ke tangan orang luar dan harapan untuk penduduknya menambahkan sedikit pendapatan berkecai,” katanya menambah FSM ada lebih 200 ahli di mana ada yang terbabit dalam industri minyak dan gas.

“Ahli saya ada yang terbabit dalam industri ini dan belum tentu mereka ada harapan untuk mendapatkan secubit kek yang besar ini,” katanya.

Apabila beroperasi pada 2013, SOGT di Kimanis akan muncul sebagai bandar petroleum tertunggul seperti Miri dan Bintulu di Sarawak serta Kerteh, Terengganu.

Melalui dua terminal di Kimanis dan Sipitang dengan keluasan kira-kira 800 hektar, industri minyak dan  gas di Sabah akan berkembang dengan pesat.

Hasil minyak dan gas menyumbang 8.2 peratus terhadap Keluaran Dalam Negeri Kasar (KDNK) Sabah pada tahun lalu.

Bagi eksport petroleum mentah pula, ia menyumbang sebanyak 37.4 peratus atau RM13.9 bilion tahun lalu pendapatan negeri ini.

PROJEK PETRONAS DI KIMANIS SABAH

KUALA LUMPUR, 11 Mac (Bernama) -- Petronas kini melaksanakan tawaran tender bagi kerja-kerja kejuruteraan, perolehan, pembinaan dan penyiapsediaan projek pembangunan Terminal Minyak dan Gas Sabah (SOGT) di Kimanis Sabah, demikian Dewan Rakyat diberitahu hari ini.

SOGT yang dijangka siap dan mula beroperasi pada 2012 akan mempunyai jumlah kapasiti penyimpanan sebanyak 2.5 juta tong minyak mentah dan mampu mengendalikan sebanyak 300,000 tong minyak mentah sehari dan lebih kurang 1.250 juta kaki padu gas sehari.

Sebahagian daripada gas yang diterima SOGT pula akan dimanfaatkan untuk kegunaan sektor elektrik dan industri hiliran.
Sebahagian lagi akan disalurkan ke Kompleks LNG Petronas di Bintulu melalui saluran paip sejauh 500 kilometer yang akan dibina di bawah projek SSGP, kata senator itu.