ASB is looking beyond Borneo

Labuan: Asian Supply Base Sdn Bhd (ASB), the flagship of the oil and gas industry here, remains in good shape despite the island being hit by the prolonged downturn in crude oil prices and is looking beyond the shores of Borneo to tap new opportunities in the surrounding region.Chairman of Labuan Corporation (LC) Datuk Rozman Isli, who is also the local Member of Parliament, said this after hearing an update on the activities of ASB from its CEO Datuk Harris Tan. Rozman, who is also a Board member of ASB, was accompanied in his visit to ASB by two LC executiveS Rithuan Ismail and Gabriel Chin.

"I am confident that ASB would be successful in its search for new opportunities emerging in Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar and Indonesia which are not far from here and where activities of exploring marginal new hydrocarbon fields by new players had been reported," said Rozman.

He said that though there were new supply bases emerging, they were unlikely to eclipse ASB which was established in the 80s and was a fine-tuned integrated logistic service provider.

"It would take time for others to reach similar status."

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He said over the years, ASB from having just 108-acre site had expanded to 325 acres and added new facilities to the yard for the convenience of its customers. ASB has its own RM50 million jetty built on reclaimed land.

Rozman said although the downturn inevitably affected the business of many, including ASB, however, ASB remains in stable condition and remains the largest single employer on the island."

ASB once had 5,500 people working for them, with 900 under direct employment while another 4,000 over were employed by service providers. The yard had 90 service providing firms.

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Rozman said there were also signs that some of the companies were returning to field due to slight recovery in crude prices. He hoped that ASB would gradually consider expanding into downstream activities as well.

He said ASB stood at an advantage since Labuan is a duty-free port and this allowed foreign companies to bring in its own equipment for use, unlike some other bases. - Sohan Das

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