Improving Sabah's edge in O&G
Published on: Tuesday, December 08, 2015
Tuaran: The State Government will continue to further enhance Sabah's position in the oil and gas industry despite the current economic challenges and decline in the global oil prices.Sabah's oil and gas sector is progressively growing and moving towards becoming the region's important exploration and production centre."We, the government recognise the vast potential of this industry that would help accelerate the State's social and economic development," said Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman in his speech delivered by Deputy Chief Minister cum Industrial Development Minister Datuk Raymond Tan during the launching of the Symposium on Unlocking Oil and Gas Potentials in Sabah at Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort and Spa here, Monday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Currently, he said Sabah produces about 220,000 barrels of oil per day which is almost 40 per cent of the total national oil production of 557,000 barrels of oil per day."Sabah's production is expected to grow over the next few years with the existing capacity whereby Sabah has 12 oil fields and four gas fields in production, while 41 oil and 47 gas fields had been discovered until August 2014," he said, adding that there are 28 active Production Sharing Contracts (PSC), operated by 15 companies.Not only that, Musa said their massive deep water exploration potential has also shown positive and encouraging progress. According to him, Petronas and Shell together with several reputable international oil exploration companies have invested in joint ventures of deep water exploration offshore and on shore Sabah that further pushed the sector forward.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Sabah boasts massive deep water potential, that was uncovered and the first State to commission the first and second deep water field, Kikeh at 1,350 meter depth while Gumusut-KaKap at 1,200 meter depth," he said, stating that Gumust-KaKap is capable of producing up to 125,000 barrels per day. "There are a lot of opportunities yet to be unlocked in Sabah, and as such we welcome you to invest in Sabah."
ADVERTISEMENT
"Indeed the presence of Petronas and Shell as well as the other global players in Sabah is a testimony of the importance of the oil and gas sector in Sabah. And this presents vast opportunities for oil and gas contractors in the State," he said. However, there is an urgent need to review their manpower capacity and capabilities in order to support the continuous growth of the oil and gas sector. To that end, he said the government has worked closely with the industry to raise professionalism, develop competencies and provide opportunities for skills upgrading."We have also set up a committee to look on the human capital needs in the critical sector including the oil and gas to meet the current and future demand on human capital in this sector," he said.In addition, the global economic outlook is one of the most important drivers of future energy demand.While outlooks for advanced economies have improved since the beginning of this year, growth for emerging markets is less positive, he said."This is a reflection of weaker prospects for oil producing economies. Nonetheless, in 2016 the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expecting global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to strengthen to 3.6 per cent due to 'a rebound in activity in number of distressed economies'," he said.Later, he also explained Asia and the densely populated Asian nations are now the main drivers of global energy demand, which is led by China whereas Europe and North America are stagnating.Africa, Middle East and Latin American are next emerging energy-hungry nations in the longer term provided industrialisation and globalisation continue to spread, he said. Earlier, Organising Chairman cum Sabah Oil and Gas Contractors Association President Datuk Iskandar Malik explained that the objective of the symposium is to centre-stage business opportunities in Sabah.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
