PETRONAS REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO PROVIDE WORK OPPORTUNITY FOR SABAHANS

Petronas reaffirms commitment to provide work opportunity for Sabahans

KOTA KINABALU 12th October, 2011: Petronas reaffirms its commitment to provide job opportunities for qualified youths in Sabah to participate in the growing oil and gas industry.

The national oil company yesterday held a special briefing for local youth leaders at its premises here on the various career and employment opportunities in the industry with the development of several mega oil and gas projects in the state.

The briefing was conducted by Joseph Podtung, general manager of the Petronas Sabah and Labuan Regional Office.

Also in attendance was Datuk Peter Pang, Minister of Youth and Sports and the ministry’s Assistant Minister, Datuk Jahid Jahim.

Petronas has rolled out several projects both upstream and downstream to add value to the petroleum resources recently discovered offshore Sabah.

These include the Sabah Oil & Gas Terminal (SOGT) in Kimanis, the Sabah Ammonia and Urea Plant in Sipitang as well as the Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline (SSGP).

“The opportunity for jobs and businesses in the oil and gas industry are enormous as the industry is set to be one of the fastest growing sectors in Sabah’s economy,” said Joseph.

“As a Sabahan who has been working in the oil and gas industry for more than 20 years, I am excited about the prospects for more Sabahans to be involved in the industry especially with the development of the projects undertaken by Petronas and their spin-offs.

“These projects are part of an overall plan by Petronas to further develop and integrate the oil and gas industry in Sabah,” he added.

The SOGT and the SSGP are two major projects which will allow upstream resources found offshore Sabah to be commercialised at the most competitive rates.

More than 20 Sabah-based companies are participating in these two projects.

The Sabah Ammonia and Urea Plant in Sipitang, which will be the largest single-train granular urea facility in South East Asia, provides opportunities for Sabah-based companies in its development.

Petronas is also developing two power plants in Sabah, one each in Kimanis and Lahad Datu. Both power plants will contribute to a total of 600MW of electricity, which will provide power to many homes and encourage businesses to set up operations in the state.

In tandem with the development of these projects and the spin-offs they would create, Petronas is providing opportunities for youths in Sabah to develop their capability via the establishment of the Kimanis Petroleum Training Centre, in addition to the various training arrangements it has with a number of institutions in the state.

Apart from that, Petronas has also been collaborating with youth associations in Sabah particularly in sport activities and environmental campaigns.

These include the Petronas Cup Football League, which has been organised in Beaufort and Kimanis over the past two years. The competition fields 16 teams from various districts in the west coast of Sabah to develop young football talents for the state football team.

It also organises annual water environmental carnivals near its operation areas to promote environmental awareness and the importance of protecting and conserving the environment.

Yesterday’s program called the Petronas Special Program (Skills and Career Opportunity Towards Generating Youth Potential) was jointly organised by PETRONAS, the Sabah Youth Council and the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

It was participated by approximately 50 youth leaders from various associations.