Haha "multiple orgasms" is reserved for elite n TauKee , Ah Bengs n Kidos can only say " keep cumming ! "
Same act , one is clean and legal, one is illegal and dirty .:p
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Economic News
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Haha "multiple orgasms" is reserved for elite n TauKee , Ah Bengs n Kidos can only say " keep cumming ! "
Same act , one is clean and legal, one is illegal and dirty .:p
I said before. This is property forum.
If you want to start posting all other non property articles, I have absolutely no problems.
Don't complain when the reaction hits back.
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Now they are trying very hard to come up with things like : reduce lease of HDB , tax more on resale gain , making babies in small HDB .... any ideas that can squeeze are welcome !:p
Haha "multiple orgasms" is reserved for elite n TauKee , Ah Bengs n Kidos can only say " keep cumming ! "
Same act , one is clean and legal, one is illegal and dirty .:p
There is one more at grassroots.. It is called illegally mutual.
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Just as expected, people will come up with that : "SG also like that what, even worse thingy".
But this people are so quick to jump in and instead make a fool of themselves by showing how little they know.
One must be able to look at all aspects and understand it before commenting otherwise you'll look ...........(you decide what word to use).
Singapore had been operating on a balanced Budget over the years against MY's running a huge deficit for years, meaning MY were spending more than they could earn years after years!
Because MY's growing debts year after year, its also earning someone the title of the worse finance minister.
Allocation of RM20 billion to the PMO to keep so many ministers (for doing what?) while drastically slashing budget for Health and Education causing so much hardship to the public is not very smart Budget indeed.
SG has a high national debt level no doubt but it was not for Budget spending but rather for investment and to grow the economy.
Its silly not to borrow cheap money to invest when the returns is more than sufficient to cover the debt servicing costs.
An example is introducing the Special Singapore Govt Security in the bond market, it offers the public another safe savings option over banks' FD and offers a higher interest rate.
SG's foreign reserve stands at more than US$252 billion and if contra against the national debt, SG is actually debt-free.
SG's creditworthiness is AAA and banks will all be lining up to lend money to SG.
By logic, MY should be a wealthier country than SG by several times.
SG has no natural resources at all while MY is blessed with so much natural resources, huge plantations, robust agriculture and even rain water can sell for hundred of millions every year.
But why is their national reserve keep shrinking and shrinking and now stand at only US$95 billion against SG's US$252 billions?
Very simple, just one 1MDB is enough to bleed the country dry, tens of billions of USD and in such a short time.
1MDB is already insolvent and is transferred to the MOF to handle its massive debt, so, they should include a provision in the coming Budget!
Debt to create, build, invest to produce future dividends is good. (GIC/Temasek burgeoning with $$$; citizens may not get to benefit from the use of most of it in their generation but that's a different matter).
Debt to cover corruption, mismanagement, inefficiencies - that perpetually costs the taxpayers is bad. (Bleeding the ppl)
$$$ used as fuel for growth engine vs $$$ used to repay past indiscretions/fiscal mismanagement.
Debt to cover corruption, mismanagement, inefficiencies - that perpetually costs the taxpayers is bad. (Bleeding the ppl)
$$$ used as fuel for growth engine vs $$$ used to repay past indiscretions/fiscal mismanagement.
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Yeah, actually there is no point to make comparison as there is always someone out there better - 人比人，气死人。
So what if yours is bigger and better.
Just like Hongkong and SG, there are so much similarities.
Both are small city state.
Both has no natural resources.
Both has high cost of living.
But both has high foreign reserves
And both are important global financial centres.
But similarities stops at housing condition in both cities.
A 3 Rm HDB flat of about 65sq m in SG is considered an extremely spacious apartment in HK and a 4 Rm flat of about 90sq m is a luxurious apartment out of reach for most salaried workers.
One can say all the bad things about HDB flats but it does house 85% of the population and actually also made a generation of people very rich.
You know how much Hongkongers envies the Singaporeans in this aspect?
Makes sense. Can't believe some people are still finding fault with SG. You take one part of a negative news about SG (eg its debts) and then compare to Malaysia's lower debt then conclude Singapore is worse off.
Firstly, if you are an Accounting student, you will fail badly for sure. Even a below average student can do better than that.
Secondly, what do you gain by bad mouthing one country? Or trashing how SG is heading for dooms. Do you have any house, investments in SG or hold SGD? Then better quickly sell them off all and get out of the country.
When you about to die, it makes no difference whether you are a Singaporean or Malaysian. If you hold 1,10 or 100 properties.
So why not make use of the time better and discuss something that will benefit everyone here?
Firstly, if you are an Accounting student, you will fail badly for sure. Even a below average student can do better than that.
Secondly, what do you gain by bad mouthing one country? Or trashing how SG is heading for dooms. Do you have any house, investments in SG or hold SGD? Then better quickly sell them off all and get out of the country.
When you about to die, it makes no difference whether you are a Singaporean or Malaysian. If you hold 1,10 or 100 properties.
So why not make use of the time better and discuss something that will benefit everyone here?
There is one more at grassroots.. It is called illegally mutual.
Why not called " mutual orgasm " or " let's cum together" ?
When the economy improves and flourish, everything benefits, people has more money to spend, properties prices appreciates, etc.
Hence, directly or indirectly, the economic situation affects the property prices.
And in MY, Petronas and 1MDB has direct impact on the economy which some people here keep denying.
Petronas was always the major revenue contributor for the National Budget and due to low oil prices, the revenue had shrunk drastically.
Petronas is like a vital organ to MY's overall economy and now this organ is sick or it can be said that this golden goose is laying very much smaller eggs now.
1MDB scandal is like a disease resulting in international investigations causing country to lose credibility, foreign funds exodus and free fall of the RM.
So, for MY's economy to improve, Petronas the golden goose has be back in good health and that 1MDB disease terminated, a very tall order though.
Business News
Home > Business > Business News
Wednesday, 21 September 2016 | MYT 8:50 AM
Petronas looking to cut several hundred more jobs
KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is looking to cut several hundred more jobs as it continues to grapple with weak oil prices, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
The newspaper reported on Wednesday that the national oil company is planning ti axe the jobs at its publicly listed operations,
Petronas, which provides most of the government’s oil and gas revenue, said in March that it was cutting 1,000 jobs.
WSJ said this came after Petronas said it would slash spending by some US$11.4bil over the next four years. As at end-2015, Petronas had 53,000 employees.
Quoting a statement from Petronas, WSJ reported the national oil company as saying it continually reviews its business strategies and staffing levels as it adjusts to changes in demand.
“This transformation exercise cuts across the entire Petronas group, including at subsidiary levels,” the company said in a statement. “More information will be disclosed as and when appropriate.”
The three companies which are listed on Bursa Malaysia Securities are Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd and Petronas Dagangan Bhd.
WSJ said Petronas Chemicals employed 4,659 people, Petronas Gas 2,187 people and Petronas Dagangan 1,900 people based on their 2015 annual reports.
http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2016/09/21/petronas-looking-to-cut-several-hundred-more-jobs/
Wan Zul’s mission to change Petronas
Chief executive of national oil company says a shift in the company’s cultural belief is required to give it the desired results in the low crude oil price environment
It would be difficult to find a group of people who are more profoundly immersed in their beliefs than the 1,000-odd staff at the operations centre of the Formula One (F1) team of Mercedes AMG Petronas (Petroliam Nasional Bhd) in Brackley, outside London.
After each race, everyone involved – from the driver of the truck that holds all the computers to race engineers – work out the details on how to further fine-tune the cars. Technology is used extensively to the extent of studying tyre marks and testing samples of the lubricants.
The overall objective is to win the next race in the high-profile F1 World Championship.
For Petronas’ president and chief executive Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, the high-performance culture coupled with cutting-edge technology at the operations centre in Brackley are values that he hopes will eventually transcend into reshaping the culture of the national oil and gas (O&G) company.
“We need to have a quantum change in the cultural beliefs of the whole group to be a high-performance company. We are talking about inculcating a sense of belonging, taking ownership and sharing success.
“A change in the cultural beliefs will translate into actions that produce results we would want to see in the future years,” he told a group of journalists during a visit to the Mercedes AMG operations centre in London.
Taking over the helm of Petronas at a time when oil prices were on a free fall, Wan Zulkiflee has not had it easy. He had to bring the knife to the operations of the company that employs 51,000 people, including 11,000 non-Malaysians, as the price of oil fell to less than US$30 per barrel.
Now, crude oil is hovering around US$46 per barrel, coming off its recent high of just above US$50.
For the first time in its 42-year history, the national O&G company laid off employees and froze increments.
Critics feel that Petronas can do more in cutting down staff. On the change in culture and inculcating a sense of ownership, the critics say that the culture in Petronas, as in many Government-linked companies, is that everybody wants to take ownership in only successful projects.
“When it comes to less-successful projects, nobody wants to take ownership,” says a former executive of Petronas.
“Wan Zul”, as he is fondly known, has been earmarked for the top position of Petronas since 2010. After former president and chief executive Tan Sri Hassan Marican’s contract was not renewed, Wan Zulkiflee was tipped to take over.
However, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak recalled Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas, who had then retired from Petronas, to head Petronas.
Before assuming the top position in March last year, Wan Zulkiflee, who has been with Petronas since 1983, was the group chief operating officer and chief executive in charge of the downstream operations. Equipped with experience in both the upstream and downstream operations, Wan Zulkiflee focused on six strategies to reshape Petronas.
Three of the strategies were short-term measures to cope with the changing environment of low oil prices. They were to maximise cash-generation activities, focus on delivering projects such as the massive development in Pengerang within cost, and reduce operating cost by the simplification of operations.
Wan Zulkiflee says that by merely collaborating with the production sharing contract partners, Petronas has reduced cost by RM3.4bil over one year.
Its major capital commitments in the next few years include the RM60bil project to build a refinery and integrated petrochemical hub in Pengerang, Johor, and the completion of the second floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) vessel.
Petronas has already taken delivery of the first FLNG and has pushed the schedule of the second FLNG from 2018 to 2020.
The FLNG is a purpose-built vessel with the latest technology that allows for the gas to be processed offshore. Hence, small fields that were uneconomical previously can now be developed.
Wan Zulkiflee believes that technology will be the differentiating factor for Petronas as the company moves forward.
“Going forward, technology will play a different role in the company. Petronas will commit to investing in technology irrespective of the crude oil price,” he says.
Having cutting-edge technology and a change in Petronas’ cultural beliefs are elements that Wan Zulkiflee says will be the longer-term measures that will shape the national O&G company.
On changing the cultural beliefs of the 42-year-old company, Wan Zulkiflee says that the employees have been told to first look at how they interact with each other when they come to office.
“How they deal with human resource issues or delays in the finance department. The emphasis is on execution and having a sense of ownership.
“Everything they do should be for the greater good of Petronas. They must have the same cultural belief,” he says.
Among the initiatives that Petronas has launched as part of its efforts to change the culture is to nurture trust among staff that it is “safe” to criticise the company.
Wan Zulkiflee says under the programme called “Tell Me”, he has been receiving a lot of e-mails.
“About 55% of the staff are below the age of 35 and we have been engaging at all levels,” he adds.
Low-cost environment to continue
It is easy to fathom why Wan Zulkiflee wants to bring about a paradigm shift in the culture of Petronas. Although the national O&G company has brought down operating cost by 14% through its initiatives to cope with the low oil price environment, it still has some way to go.
Based on the latest results for the second quarter of this year for the period ended June 30, Petronas’ cash flows from operations are still dropping, while its capital commitments remain.
In the first six months of this year, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) was down 20% to RM33.35bil, while cash flow from operations was down 26% to RM25.63bil.
This came on the back of a decreased revenue of RM97.57bil for the first six months of this year compared to RM127.5bil in the corresponding period last year. The profit for the first half of this year was down 72% to RM6.18bil, largely due to the amortisation of assets to reflect the lower oil prices.
During the same period, Petronas’ capital investments were down 20% to RM25.16bil. The investments are mainly for the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development project in Johor and some downstream projects.
The next two years will be crucial for Petronas to ensure its cash flows remain healthy to cope with its investments.
Beyond that, there are bigger investments for the national O&G company, especially in Canada where it has a US$27.5bil project to liquefy and export natural gas from British Columbia.
Petronas’ partners in the Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal are Brunei National Petroleum Co, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, Indian Oil Corp Ltd and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co Ltd.
The cost includes the construction of two liquefaction plants, marine terminals, pipelines and storage tanks. Part of the cost of the project also takes into account what Petronas had paid when it acquired Canada-based Progress Energy Resources Corp in 2012.
The project, which is slated to start in 2019, has yet to get approval from the Canadian authorities, which means that the consortium need not make a decision on its investment on the Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal project.
The delay is something that is probably working in favour of Petronas because the capital commitment to the Canadian project is high and may not be something that is viable in the low oil price environment.
According to the latest report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the supply of crude oil will continue to outstrip demand going into next year due to rising production and falling demand.
This means that the low oil price regime, which started in mid-2014, is likely to continue into 2017. Demand from major oil guzzlers such as India and China has still not picked up yet.
In the meantime, the stockpile of crude oil held by developed nations hit a record 3.1 billion barrels in July, as refinery activities reached a peak and countries from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) step up production.
The Middle-East producers such as Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates hit their highest output levels in August. According to the IEA, the output from Saudi Arabia was near record highs, while production from Iran, which has just come out of exile, reached a post-sanction high.
The Opec countries, led by Saudi Arabia, are employing the tactic of flooding the market so that it will keep oil prices low for a prolonged period and wear out competitors from higher-cost production fields.
The competitors are from the non-Opec countries and operators of shale O&G in the United States. At the current oil price of Brent Crude at below US$50 per barrel, production at high-cost, oil-producing fields such as the North Sea and deep-waters are not viable.
As for shale O&G, the cost of production for most fields is about US$60 per barrel. However, according to a report by Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy that specialises in O&G, the break-even cost for investments in some fields in the US, such as the Permian Basin in West Texas, requires Brent Crude to be as low as US$39 per barrel.
With the low oil price environment set to stay for some time, it leaves Wan Zulkiflee with little choice but to bring about a paradigm shift in the culture of Petronas.
Cost has to keep coming down to accommodate the low oil price environment, while investments, especially in technology, is something that the company cannot avoid if it is to keep reducing its cost of production.
This would mean that Petronas has less financial resources to spend to build up its O&G reserves. This is a tough act even for a seasoned hand such as Wan Zulkiflee.
http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2016/09/17/wan-zuls-mission-to-change-petronas/
Home > Business > Business News
Wednesday, 21 September 2016 | MYT 8:50 AM
Petronas looking to cut several hundred more jobs
KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is looking to cut several hundred more jobs as it continues to grapple with weak oil prices, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
The newspaper reported on Wednesday that the national oil company is planning ti axe the jobs at its publicly listed operations,
Petronas, which provides most of the government’s oil and gas revenue, said in March that it was cutting 1,000 jobs.
WSJ said this came after Petronas said it would slash spending by some US$11.4bil over the next four years. As at end-2015, Petronas had 53,000 employees.
Quoting a statement from Petronas, WSJ reported the national oil company as saying it continually reviews its business strategies and staffing levels as it adjusts to changes in demand.
“This transformation exercise cuts across the entire Petronas group, including at subsidiary levels,” the company said in a statement. “More information will be disclosed as and when appropriate.”
The three companies which are listed on Bursa Malaysia Securities are Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd, Petronas Gas Bhd and Petronas Dagangan Bhd.
WSJ said Petronas Chemicals employed 4,659 people, Petronas Gas 2,187 people and Petronas Dagangan 1,900 people based on their 2015 annual reports.
http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2016/09/21/petronas-looking-to-cut-several-hundred-more-jobs/
Wan Zul’s mission to change Petronas
Chief executive of national oil company says a shift in the company’s cultural belief is required to give it the desired results in the low crude oil price environment
It would be difficult to find a group of people who are more profoundly immersed in their beliefs than the 1,000-odd staff at the operations centre of the Formula One (F1) team of Mercedes AMG Petronas (Petroliam Nasional Bhd) in Brackley, outside London.
After each race, everyone involved – from the driver of the truck that holds all the computers to race engineers – work out the details on how to further fine-tune the cars. Technology is used extensively to the extent of studying tyre marks and testing samples of the lubricants.
The overall objective is to win the next race in the high-profile F1 World Championship.
For Petronas’ president and chief executive Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, the high-performance culture coupled with cutting-edge technology at the operations centre in Brackley are values that he hopes will eventually transcend into reshaping the culture of the national oil and gas (O&G) company.
“We need to have a quantum change in the cultural beliefs of the whole group to be a high-performance company. We are talking about inculcating a sense of belonging, taking ownership and sharing success.
“A change in the cultural beliefs will translate into actions that produce results we would want to see in the future years,” he told a group of journalists during a visit to the Mercedes AMG operations centre in London.
Taking over the helm of Petronas at a time when oil prices were on a free fall, Wan Zulkiflee has not had it easy. He had to bring the knife to the operations of the company that employs 51,000 people, including 11,000 non-Malaysians, as the price of oil fell to less than US$30 per barrel.
Now, crude oil is hovering around US$46 per barrel, coming off its recent high of just above US$50.
For the first time in its 42-year history, the national O&G company laid off employees and froze increments.
Critics feel that Petronas can do more in cutting down staff. On the change in culture and inculcating a sense of ownership, the critics say that the culture in Petronas, as in many Government-linked companies, is that everybody wants to take ownership in only successful projects.
“When it comes to less-successful projects, nobody wants to take ownership,” says a former executive of Petronas.
“Wan Zul”, as he is fondly known, has been earmarked for the top position of Petronas since 2010. After former president and chief executive Tan Sri Hassan Marican’s contract was not renewed, Wan Zulkiflee was tipped to take over.
However, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak recalled Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas, who had then retired from Petronas, to head Petronas.
Before assuming the top position in March last year, Wan Zulkiflee, who has been with Petronas since 1983, was the group chief operating officer and chief executive in charge of the downstream operations. Equipped with experience in both the upstream and downstream operations, Wan Zulkiflee focused on six strategies to reshape Petronas.
Three of the strategies were short-term measures to cope with the changing environment of low oil prices. They were to maximise cash-generation activities, focus on delivering projects such as the massive development in Pengerang within cost, and reduce operating cost by the simplification of operations.
Wan Zulkiflee says that by merely collaborating with the production sharing contract partners, Petronas has reduced cost by RM3.4bil over one year.
Its major capital commitments in the next few years include the RM60bil project to build a refinery and integrated petrochemical hub in Pengerang, Johor, and the completion of the second floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) vessel.
Petronas has already taken delivery of the first FLNG and has pushed the schedule of the second FLNG from 2018 to 2020.
The FLNG is a purpose-built vessel with the latest technology that allows for the gas to be processed offshore. Hence, small fields that were uneconomical previously can now be developed.
Wan Zulkiflee believes that technology will be the differentiating factor for Petronas as the company moves forward.
“Going forward, technology will play a different role in the company. Petronas will commit to investing in technology irrespective of the crude oil price,” he says.
Having cutting-edge technology and a change in Petronas’ cultural beliefs are elements that Wan Zulkiflee says will be the longer-term measures that will shape the national O&G company.
On changing the cultural beliefs of the 42-year-old company, Wan Zulkiflee says that the employees have been told to first look at how they interact with each other when they come to office.
“How they deal with human resource issues or delays in the finance department. The emphasis is on execution and having a sense of ownership.
“Everything they do should be for the greater good of Petronas. They must have the same cultural belief,” he says.
Among the initiatives that Petronas has launched as part of its efforts to change the culture is to nurture trust among staff that it is “safe” to criticise the company.
Wan Zulkiflee says under the programme called “Tell Me”, he has been receiving a lot of e-mails.
“About 55% of the staff are below the age of 35 and we have been engaging at all levels,” he adds.
Low-cost environment to continue
It is easy to fathom why Wan Zulkiflee wants to bring about a paradigm shift in the culture of Petronas. Although the national O&G company has brought down operating cost by 14% through its initiatives to cope with the low oil price environment, it still has some way to go.
Based on the latest results for the second quarter of this year for the period ended June 30, Petronas’ cash flows from operations are still dropping, while its capital commitments remain.
In the first six months of this year, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) was down 20% to RM33.35bil, while cash flow from operations was down 26% to RM25.63bil.
This came on the back of a decreased revenue of RM97.57bil for the first six months of this year compared to RM127.5bil in the corresponding period last year. The profit for the first half of this year was down 72% to RM6.18bil, largely due to the amortisation of assets to reflect the lower oil prices.
During the same period, Petronas’ capital investments were down 20% to RM25.16bil. The investments are mainly for the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development project in Johor and some downstream projects.
The next two years will be crucial for Petronas to ensure its cash flows remain healthy to cope with its investments.
Beyond that, there are bigger investments for the national O&G company, especially in Canada where it has a US$27.5bil project to liquefy and export natural gas from British Columbia.
Petronas’ partners in the Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal are Brunei National Petroleum Co, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, Indian Oil Corp Ltd and Japan Petroleum Exploration Co Ltd.
The cost includes the construction of two liquefaction plants, marine terminals, pipelines and storage tanks. Part of the cost of the project also takes into account what Petronas had paid when it acquired Canada-based Progress Energy Resources Corp in 2012.
The project, which is slated to start in 2019, has yet to get approval from the Canadian authorities, which means that the consortium need not make a decision on its investment on the Pacific NorthWest LNG terminal project.
The delay is something that is probably working in favour of Petronas because the capital commitment to the Canadian project is high and may not be something that is viable in the low oil price environment.
According to the latest report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the supply of crude oil will continue to outstrip demand going into next year due to rising production and falling demand.
This means that the low oil price regime, which started in mid-2014, is likely to continue into 2017. Demand from major oil guzzlers such as India and China has still not picked up yet.
In the meantime, the stockpile of crude oil held by developed nations hit a record 3.1 billion barrels in July, as refinery activities reached a peak and countries from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) step up production.
The Middle-East producers such as Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates hit their highest output levels in August. According to the IEA, the output from Saudi Arabia was near record highs, while production from Iran, which has just come out of exile, reached a post-sanction high.
The Opec countries, led by Saudi Arabia, are employing the tactic of flooding the market so that it will keep oil prices low for a prolonged period and wear out competitors from higher-cost production fields.
The competitors are from the non-Opec countries and operators of shale O&G in the United States. At the current oil price of Brent Crude at below US$50 per barrel, production at high-cost, oil-producing fields such as the North Sea and deep-waters are not viable.
As for shale O&G, the cost of production for most fields is about US$60 per barrel. However, according to a report by Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy that specialises in O&G, the break-even cost for investments in some fields in the US, such as the Permian Basin in West Texas, requires Brent Crude to be as low as US$39 per barrel.
With the low oil price environment set to stay for some time, it leaves Wan Zulkiflee with little choice but to bring about a paradigm shift in the culture of Petronas.
Cost has to keep coming down to accommodate the low oil price environment, while investments, especially in technology, is something that the company cannot avoid if it is to keep reducing its cost of production.
This would mean that Petronas has less financial resources to spend to build up its O&G reserves. This is a tough act even for a seasoned hand such as Wan Zulkiflee.
http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2016/09/17/wan-zuls-mission-to-change-petronas/
Petronas saves RM3.4bil from cost-cutting efforts
“Through the Cost Reduction Alliance programme, we have managed to cut RM3.4bil in terms of our costs since we started till the middle of this year,” its president and group chief executive officer Datuk Wan Zulkifli Wan Ariffin(inset) said at the International Conference of Blue Ocean Strategy’s plenary session themed “Delivering High Value at Low Cost,” yesterday
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s oil giant Petronas has saved RM3.4bil since embarking on cost-cutting measures in 2015 and this effort will continue even if oil prices recover.
“Through the Cost Reduction Alliance programme, we have managed to cut RM3.4bil in terms of our costs since we started till the middle of this year,” its president and group chief executive officer Datuk Wan Zulkifli Wan Ariffin said.
He said this at the International Conference of Blue Ocean Strategy’s plenary session themed “Delivering High Value at Low Cost,” here yesterday.
The Cost Reduction Alliance or CORAL 2.0 is a five-year industry-wide programme from 2015 to 2019, driven by Petronas with the aim to inculcate cost-conscious mindset across Upstream Malaysia.
Wan Zulkifli said the transformation kicked in when oil and gas companies, including Petronas, were hit by tumbling prices since 2014.
“In 2014, oil prices were more than US$100 per barrel, at lunch time today it was US$48.
“Oil companies had to do strategic responses, worried about cash flows, cut budgets and optimise the manpower and Petronas was no different,” he said.
He said Petronas had cut its capital expenditure and operating expenses by RM15bil this year and had earmarked about RM50bil over four years.
Malaysia’s only Fortune 500 company, Petronas, is also focusing on cash generation, simplification of process, project delivery, as well as talent management.
However, he said as such measures and mere cost cutting alone was not sustainable, Petronas needed a total overhaul even in terms of its culture.
“I think over time as the organisation grew bigger, we became more bureaucratic and many units become more silo as time went by.
“So, we wanted to eliminate the believe of our staff that Petronas was bureaucratic and silo,” he said.
Hence, to attain the results, it is important for Petronas to fix the day-to-day experience of its 50,000 employees. – Bernama
http://www.thestar.com.my/business/...ronas-saves-rm34bil-from-costcutting-efforts/
“Through the Cost Reduction Alliance programme, we have managed to cut RM3.4bil in terms of our costs since we started till the middle of this year,” its president and group chief executive officer Datuk Wan Zulkifli Wan Ariffin(inset) said at the International Conference of Blue Ocean Strategy’s plenary session themed “Delivering High Value at Low Cost,” yesterday
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia’s oil giant Petronas has saved RM3.4bil since embarking on cost-cutting measures in 2015 and this effort will continue even if oil prices recover.
“Through the Cost Reduction Alliance programme, we have managed to cut RM3.4bil in terms of our costs since we started till the middle of this year,” its president and group chief executive officer Datuk Wan Zulkifli Wan Ariffin said.
He said this at the International Conference of Blue Ocean Strategy’s plenary session themed “Delivering High Value at Low Cost,” here yesterday.
The Cost Reduction Alliance or CORAL 2.0 is a five-year industry-wide programme from 2015 to 2019, driven by Petronas with the aim to inculcate cost-conscious mindset across Upstream Malaysia.
Wan Zulkifli said the transformation kicked in when oil and gas companies, including Petronas, were hit by tumbling prices since 2014.
“In 2014, oil prices were more than US$100 per barrel, at lunch time today it was US$48.
“Oil companies had to do strategic responses, worried about cash flows, cut budgets and optimise the manpower and Petronas was no different,” he said.
He said Petronas had cut its capital expenditure and operating expenses by RM15bil this year and had earmarked about RM50bil over four years.
Malaysia’s only Fortune 500 company, Petronas, is also focusing on cash generation, simplification of process, project delivery, as well as talent management.
However, he said as such measures and mere cost cutting alone was not sustainable, Petronas needed a total overhaul even in terms of its culture.
“I think over time as the organisation grew bigger, we became more bureaucratic and many units become more silo as time went by.
“So, we wanted to eliminate the believe of our staff that Petronas was bureaucratic and silo,” he said.
Hence, to attain the results, it is important for Petronas to fix the day-to-day experience of its 50,000 employees. – Bernama
http://www.thestar.com.my/business/...ronas-saves-rm34bil-from-costcutting-efforts/
Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas company Petronas is on track to get its US$27 billion refining and petrochemical complex in the south of the country up and running in 2019, the head of the group’s downstream operations told Reuters.
Petronas has earmarked heavy spending cuts to contend with low oil prices that have sent profit tumbling, but the company remains committed to the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project it aims to turn into a regional oil and gas hub by 2035.
“By the end of the year we should have completed more than 50 percent of the complex and we’re on track to start operations in the first quarter of 2019,” said Md Arif Mahmood, Petronas downstream CEO and group executive vice-president.
The project, launched in 2012 at Pengerang in the southern state of Johor, will consist of a 300,000 barrel per day refinery and petrochemical complex with combined annual chemical output capacity of 7.7 million metric tonnes.
Other facilities include a liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal.
“There are four billion people in southern Asia and future growth will be there as the number of middle-class income makers grows,” Mahmood said.
Like other energy companies, Petronas has cut costs, laid off workers and deferred investments to offset the slide in crude prices.
It has earmarked more than 10 billion euros (US$11.2 billion) of capital expenditure cuts over the next three to four years and is looking to maximize other revenue streams outside upstream exploration.
“With the new norm for crude at US$40 to US$50 a barrel, downstream has become a critical component, it flies the flag of the company,” Mahmood said.
In Italy to attend the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Monza (Petronas is sponsor of the Mercedes F1 team), Mahmood said that the company’s growth in Europe would be focused on expansion of its lubricants business.
“We have an aggressive plan to grow in Germany, the UK, Ireland and Italy,” he said.
Europe is one of the company’s main lubricant markets, generating 28 per cent of the group’s total volumes. Italy is the biggest market, accounting for 48 per cent of European sales.
In chemicals, Mahmood said the group would maximize benefits from its partnership with Germany’s BASF, though a planned joint venture in synthetic rubber with Italian oil major Eni’s Versalis has been abandoned.
“We’ve both decided not to go ahead because of market conditions,” Mahmood said.
Besides the RAPID project, Petronas has ambitious plans in LNG and Mahmood said it hopes to gain long-awaited environmental clearance for a US$35 billion LNG export terminal in western Canada by the end of the year.
Petronas has been waiting more than three years for a permit to start building the Pacific NorthWest terminal and some analysts have said that LNG oversupply and lower oil and gas prices now threaten to make the project unattractive.
“We are committed at the moment, but first we need to see what the conditions of approval are,” Mahmood said.
The company, which is one of the world’s largest LNG producers, is also on track with construction of a US$12 billion offshore LNG plant that it touts as the world’s first floating liquefaction facility.
“You’ll see production at the end this year or early next,” Mahmood said, adding that commissioning is also under way for a ninth production line at the group’s Bintulu LNG complex in Malaysia.
© Thomson Reuters 2016
http://business.financialpost.com/n...adian-lng-project-by-year-end?__lsa=8823-4287
Petronas has earmarked heavy spending cuts to contend with low oil prices that have sent profit tumbling, but the company remains committed to the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project it aims to turn into a regional oil and gas hub by 2035.
“By the end of the year we should have completed more than 50 percent of the complex and we’re on track to start operations in the first quarter of 2019,” said Md Arif Mahmood, Petronas downstream CEO and group executive vice-president.
The project, launched in 2012 at Pengerang in the southern state of Johor, will consist of a 300,000 barrel per day refinery and petrochemical complex with combined annual chemical output capacity of 7.7 million metric tonnes.
Other facilities include a liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal.
“There are four billion people in southern Asia and future growth will be there as the number of middle-class income makers grows,” Mahmood said.
Like other energy companies, Petronas has cut costs, laid off workers and deferred investments to offset the slide in crude prices.
It has earmarked more than 10 billion euros (US$11.2 billion) of capital expenditure cuts over the next three to four years and is looking to maximize other revenue streams outside upstream exploration.
“With the new norm for crude at US$40 to US$50 a barrel, downstream has become a critical component, it flies the flag of the company,” Mahmood said.
In Italy to attend the Formula 1 Grand Prix at Monza (Petronas is sponsor of the Mercedes F1 team), Mahmood said that the company’s growth in Europe would be focused on expansion of its lubricants business.
“We have an aggressive plan to grow in Germany, the UK, Ireland and Italy,” he said.
Europe is one of the company’s main lubricant markets, generating 28 per cent of the group’s total volumes. Italy is the biggest market, accounting for 48 per cent of European sales.
In chemicals, Mahmood said the group would maximize benefits from its partnership with Germany’s BASF, though a planned joint venture in synthetic rubber with Italian oil major Eni’s Versalis has been abandoned.
“We’ve both decided not to go ahead because of market conditions,” Mahmood said.
Besides the RAPID project, Petronas has ambitious plans in LNG and Mahmood said it hopes to gain long-awaited environmental clearance for a US$35 billion LNG export terminal in western Canada by the end of the year.
Petronas has been waiting more than three years for a permit to start building the Pacific NorthWest terminal and some analysts have said that LNG oversupply and lower oil and gas prices now threaten to make the project unattractive.
“We are committed at the moment, but first we need to see what the conditions of approval are,” Mahmood said.
The company, which is one of the world’s largest LNG producers, is also on track with construction of a US$12 billion offshore LNG plant that it touts as the world’s first floating liquefaction facility.
“You’ll see production at the end this year or early next,” Mahmood said, adding that commissioning is also under way for a ninth production line at the group’s Bintulu LNG complex in Malaysia.
© Thomson Reuters 2016
http://business.financialpost.com/n...adian-lng-project-by-year-end?__lsa=8823-4287
Petronas Canadian Gas Project Approved By Trudeau Government
by Bloomberg
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
by Bloomberg
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
| (Bloomberg) -- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has approved Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s C$36 billion ($27 billion) Pacific NorthWest liquefied natural gas project on British Columbia’s Pacific coast. Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr and Fisheries Minister Dominic LeBlanc made the announcement near Vancouver late Tuesday. It was Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first decision on a major energy project after a pro-environment campaign swept him to power last year. The project is "an important opportunity to grow our economy and shows how we are rebuilding Canadians’ trust in our environmental assessment process," McKenna said. The approval comes just as developers are shelving multibillion-dollar gas export projects from Australia to the U.S. amid weakening demand in Asia and Europe. Shipping consultants Poten & Partners forecast in March that at least a quarter of global LNG production would be “homeless” by 2021 as supplies surge. Canada placed 190 conditions on the project approval, which Petronas will have to meet in order to proceed. The conditions include a cap on carbon gas emissions. Petronas has said it will review the project after the government decision, which Trudeau had given himself until Oct. 2 to make. No Guarantee Carr has said the government would make its decision without any guarantees from the Malaysian state-owned energy company that the project would actually be built. Pacific NorthWest includes an LNG facility on Lelu Island near Prince Rupert and a related gas pipeline and upstream components. It would ultimately produce up to 19.2 million metric tons a year of LNG, or what the company describes as up to one LNG tanker’s capacity each day. The project was strongly supported by British Columbia’s provincial government, but local indigenous groups were divided amid concerns about its impact on salmon habitat. Trudeau had campaigned on stronger indigenous consultation. Earlier on Tuesday, opponents of the project said they expected it to be approved and pledged legal action. ‘Adamant Opposition’ “We will state our adamant opposition to this. The next step for us is litigation,” John Ridsdale, a hereditary leader with the Wet’suwet’en, known as Chief Na’Moks, said by phone. His community is inland of the proposed development but argues its environmental effects, particularly on fisheries, would be far-reaching. Ridsdale and Glen Williams, president of Gitanyow First Nation, each said a ministerial meeting on the Petronas project they were due to attend in Ottawa Tuesday was cancelled so that ministers could fly to B.C. to announce its approval. Trudeau has pledged to reduce Canadian carbon emissions and toughen environmental standards. While the Petronas project is forecast to emit as much as the equivalent of 14 percent of British Columbia’s current total, Trudeau said last month that LNG is a cleaner source of electricity than coal or oil. Other Projects Petronas will decide on whether the project proceeds. No major gas projects have gone ahead in British Columbia amid regulatory delays and low prices. In July, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its partners delayed a final decision on their C$40 billion LNG Canada project. Chevron Corp.-led Kitimat LNG has slowed spending on another project nearby. More than 30 liquefied natural gas projects have been proposed along the coasts of North America to export gas as shale drillers pull more out of the ground than domestic markets can absorb. These terminals face headwinds as the world is dealing with its own glut of LNG. |
As Singapore is very susceptible to global economic changes, it's economic readings are good barometers of global economic conditions(definitely not a sex tool for attaining orgasm)
Two-thirds of Singapore's economy is already in technical recession: analyst
No thanks to the slump in services sector.
With the services sector's two consecutive quarters of declines, a contraction in GDP is on the cards now for Singapore as headline number is reported to decline by 0.5%, down from the modest expansion of 0.3% in the previous quarter.
According to DBS Group Research, the advance GDP growth figures for 3Q16 will likely disappoint as YoY growth is likely to dip 1.5% from 2.1% in 2Q16.
"The weak performance will be broad-based with the manufacturing sector expected to fall back into contraction and the services sector still struggling. Indeed, the main drag thus far has been the services sector," the research firm said.
DBS noted that services sector accounts for slightly more than two-thirds of GDP and employment.
"So literally, two-thirds of the economy is already in a technical recession given the services’ slump," it noted.
DBS cited that financial services sector, which is the main engine of growth, is still struggling with protracted decline in bank loans.
It furthered that trade related services are also slated to ease given the slowdown in the manufacturing cluster.
"In addition, tourism related services may be modestly affected by the Zika virus while the retail sector is hit by the softening in employment prospects. Basically, outlook on the services sector has remained bleak," the research firm added.
Two-thirds of Singapore's economy is already in technical recession: analyst
No thanks to the slump in services sector.
With the services sector's two consecutive quarters of declines, a contraction in GDP is on the cards now for Singapore as headline number is reported to decline by 0.5%, down from the modest expansion of 0.3% in the previous quarter.
According to DBS Group Research, the advance GDP growth figures for 3Q16 will likely disappoint as YoY growth is likely to dip 1.5% from 2.1% in 2Q16.
"The weak performance will be broad-based with the manufacturing sector expected to fall back into contraction and the services sector still struggling. Indeed, the main drag thus far has been the services sector," the research firm said.
DBS noted that services sector accounts for slightly more than two-thirds of GDP and employment.
"So literally, two-thirds of the economy is already in a technical recession given the services’ slump," it noted.
DBS cited that financial services sector, which is the main engine of growth, is still struggling with protracted decline in bank loans.
It furthered that trade related services are also slated to ease given the slowdown in the manufacturing cluster.
"In addition, tourism related services may be modestly affected by the Zika virus while the retail sector is hit by the softening in employment prospects. Basically, outlook on the services sector has remained bleak," the research firm added.
Finally, people are waking up to the fact that Petronas is one of the major driver of MY's economy.
Petronas had done the positive thing by cutting staff, cutting expenditure and operating cost and cutting back on Capex.
The marketing people of Iskandar had since day one pinning their hopes on the development of PIPC as the catalysis for the overall development for Iskandar, the 600,000 workers needing thousands of new homes, etc.
However, given the limited resources now, it is better Petronas should postpone that multi-billion Canadian Gas Project and concentrate on PIPC, after all, PIPC actually benefits MY directly - employment by the thousands, supply chain and supporting industries etc.
The Canadian Gas Project actually benefit Canada more for the same reasons - employment, supply chain and supporting industries etc.
With the downturn of O&G industry, seeking right partnership and obtaining financing may be tough that's probably why Petronas is not rushing in as yet.
Moreover, other major O&G companies like Shell are actually also delaying their similar LNG projects due to low price and glut.
Petronas had done the positive thing by cutting staff, cutting expenditure and operating cost and cutting back on Capex.
The marketing people of Iskandar had since day one pinning their hopes on the development of PIPC as the catalysis for the overall development for Iskandar, the 600,000 workers needing thousands of new homes, etc.
However, given the limited resources now, it is better Petronas should postpone that multi-billion Canadian Gas Project and concentrate on PIPC, after all, PIPC actually benefits MY directly - employment by the thousands, supply chain and supporting industries etc.
The Canadian Gas Project actually benefit Canada more for the same reasons - employment, supply chain and supporting industries etc.
With the downturn of O&G industry, seeking right partnership and obtaining financing may be tough that's probably why Petronas is not rushing in as yet.
Moreover, other major O&G companies like Shell are actually also delaying their similar LNG projects due to low price and glut.
Qatargas, Petronas sign five-year LNG deal
19/10/2016
[FONT=&]DOHA, Qatar -- Qatargas has signed a new five-year liquefied natural gas sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Petronas LNG UK Limited (PLUK).[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Under the terms of the SPA, Qatargas will deliver LNG to PLUK until Dec. 31, 2023. The new agreement marks an extension of the company’s current contract, which is due to expire on Dec. 31, 2018.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Commenting on the deal, Khalid Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, CEO of Qatargas, said, “Qatargas continues to win new business, and I am very pleased to extend our relationship with Petronas. At Qatargas, we are focused on building strong, long-term relationships with our customers, and reinforcing our reputation for being the most reliable and flexible supplier of LNG in the marketplace.”[/FONT]
[FONT=&]
The LNG will be supplied from Qatargas 4 (Train 7), a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and Shell, and will be delivered on board Q-Flex LNG vessels to the Dragon LNG terminal at Milford Haven, UK. Under the agreement, Qatargas will deliver 1.1 mtpa.[/FONT]
19/10/2016
[FONT=&]DOHA, Qatar -- Qatargas has signed a new five-year liquefied natural gas sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Petronas LNG UK Limited (PLUK).[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Under the terms of the SPA, Qatargas will deliver LNG to PLUK until Dec. 31, 2023. The new agreement marks an extension of the company’s current contract, which is due to expire on Dec. 31, 2018.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&]Commenting on the deal, Khalid Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, CEO of Qatargas, said, “Qatargas continues to win new business, and I am very pleased to extend our relationship with Petronas. At Qatargas, we are focused on building strong, long-term relationships with our customers, and reinforcing our reputation for being the most reliable and flexible supplier of LNG in the marketplace.”[/FONT]
[FONT=&]
The LNG will be supplied from Qatargas 4 (Train 7), a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and Shell, and will be delivered on board Q-Flex LNG vessels to the Dragon LNG terminal at Milford Haven, UK. Under the agreement, Qatargas will deliver 1.1 mtpa.[/FONT]
I have to agree with you on this. Singapore is surely and confirmed to be the Leeches, oops I mean Richest Country in the world. If not, why would the Citizens be so willing to pay the Singapore PM and his Kakis $300,000 a month salary which is 6-7 times more than the most powerful President of the World?
In my 2 decades to roaming around Malaysia and Singapore and surviving recessions ( back then 1997 crisis caused a few of my million dollar idols CEOS to jump and kill themselves ), I am of the opinion that the current economy of today and next 1-2 years are the most turbulent.
Seriously, I am supremely surprised that Singapore has not entered a recession yet. Something must be wrong somewhere. This current economy is most fucked of all.... the mother of all crisis... The perfect storm
Seriously, I am supremely surprised that Singapore has not entered a recession yet. Something must be wrong somewhere. This current economy is most fucked of all.... the mother of all crisis... The perfect storm
In my 2 decades to roaming around Malaysia and Singapore and surviving recessions ( back then 1997 crisis caused a few of my million dollar idols CEOS to jump and kill themselves ), I am of the opinion that the current economy of today and next 1-2 years are the most turbulent.
Seriously, I am supremely surprised that Singapore has not entered a recession yet. Something must be wrong somewhere. This current economy is most fucked of all.... the mother of all crisis... The perfect storm
Why worry? Singapore has billions of dollars in reserves and it will not permit itself into recession. Even if it is technical one, the next month, it will automatically adjust itself. Just watch when economy grew by 0.6%, next month you will see better figures.
I too had survived so many recessions, the worst one being 1985. So I have this to say. Never think that your Government or friends will help you. Everyday complain and whine also no use. It is you and your family that come first. Food come first, patriotism come second.
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