AEM responds to call for greater O&G participation
KUCHING: Wholly- owned Sarawak company Expro Marine Sdn Bhd (AEM) has responded to the state government’s call for greater participation in the oil and gas (O& G) industry.
The Aiman Group of Companies subsidiary signed seven memorandum of understanding ( MoUs) yesterday with local and international partners that will provide niche services.
“I hope this MoU event will be the first of many more to come, in response to the state government’s call for greater participation of Sarawakian companies in the oil and gas industry,” said Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, who witnessed the signing ceremony.
Despite being a fairly new Sarawakian company, he said AEM is leading by example by venturing into various aspects of the O& G industry ranging from drilling and well services; survey and positioning; hookup and installation; operations; vessels; pipelines; and training.
“These are the areas where participation of local Sarawak companies is somewhat lacking and needs to be increased,” said Awang Tengah, who is also Minister of Industrial and Entrepreneur Development, as well as Second Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources.
The MoU signings were sealed by AEM managing director Anum Lingoh and executive director Saperi Rambli with representatives from Baker Hughes ( USA); China Offshore Oil and Engineering Company ( COOEC- China); OceanTech ( Malaysia); IO Setia Ventures/ Magma ( UK); 1Diamond ( USA); and Armada TPCE ( Malaysia).
AEM was also appointed as an exclusive agent to represent and work with ACEPT (Australia) through a Letter of Intent to provide the provisions of training and qualification certifications in accordance with Australian standards and recognition in the field of engineering, plant operations, technology, inspection, and maintenance.
Awang Tengah also said Sarawak has a sizeable reserve of oil and natural gas, which drives the state’s economic growth and creates a solid foundation to spur its economic development agenda.
“In fact, our oil and gas industry started in Miri, when the first oil well was drilled at Canada Hill 107 years ago. Our oil and gas industry has achieved many technical milestones during this past 107 years,” he said.
He pointed out that the state was also the first in the world to have the Single Buoy Mooring ( SBM) system for loading and offloading crude oil, which was successfully implemented offshore Miri in the 1960s.
Among the other achievements he mentioned were the Bintulu Liquefied Natural Gas ( LNG) plant, which was founded in 1982, as well as the setting up of the first gas to solid pilot plant in 1993, also in Bintulu.
“In 2006, we have also established the first Real Time Operation Centre ( RTOC) for drilling activities across the Asia Pacific region (from China to New Zealand) in Miri,” said Awang Tengah, adding that early this year, the first floating LNG plant (FLNG) was commissioned offshore in Bintulu.
Under the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy ( SCORE), he said the O& G sector is one of the 10 priority industries.
In line with this strategic direction, he said Sarawak is promoting and developing more downstream high valueadded activities to encourage the establishment of the petrochemical industry, leveraging on the availability of natural gas.
“We believe that the petrochemical industry will provide us with the technological advancement, high paying jobs for our people and greater spin- offs to our local SMEs ( Small Medium Enterprises),” he added.
He said Sarawak should also take advantage of the availability of natural gas resources ( as feedstock) and the existing infrastructure setup in Bintulu to become a thriving and vibrant petrochemical hub in the region.
In tandem with the state government’s ambitious plans, he said local SMEs will need to grow and expand their capability and capacity from the basic ‘lowvalue, low- tech’ category to the ‘ high-value, high-tech’ category, in order to participate in the full spectrum of the oil and gas contracts.
The state government, he added also acknowledged the many challenges faced by the O& G industry, and the impact of the prolonged low oil prices on the world economy.
“Malaysia and Sarawak are equally affected by the economic slowdown resulting in job cuts and postponement or reduction of projects in the oil and gas industry,” he said.
I hope this MoU event will be the first of many more to come, in response to the state government’s call for greater participation of Sarawakian companies in the oil and gas industry. Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, Deputy Chief Minister