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Sakmongkol ak 47

ariff.sabri@gmail.com

Friday 29 May 2009

All the Buzz about PETRONAS appointments- initial thoughts

I am very sure the reading public must have read some stiff opposition over some possible appointments of high office with PETRONAS. PETRONAS of course as everyone knows and will come to know, came into being sometime in 1974. The principal protagonists of the creation were the PM then, Tun Abdul Razak, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah who went on to become the 1st Chairman, Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan who was then active as an oil trader. Tun Salleh Abbas was responsible for drafting the PDA- Petroleum Development Act which ushered the creation of PETRONAS and the various regulations that control the oil and gas industry in Malaysia.

It confers, by LAW, sole monopoly to the government through PETRONAS, over the oil and gas business in Malaysia. So before we go on singing over-exuberant praises to PETRONAS, let us take stock of the fact that it is a near monopoly. Unless you are an imbecile and flounders at the management of this august institution- the mother lode of Malaysia's revenue source, PETRONAS remains a sustainable entity.

Of course it is to the credit of the PETRONAS Management in particular to Tan Sri Hassan Merican to ensure PETRONAS is managed on an even keel. We have seen many near monopolies of the government go under, capsize, or gone adrift as a result of poor, incompetent and even corrupt management. We must also be mindful that before Hassan Merican went over to PETRONAS, this MCKK chap did not have any inkling of the oil and gas industry.

I am moving ahead here- all this reservations about one Omar Ong not knowing anything about oil and gas is all balderdash. What's so mysterious and insurmountably difficult of knowing the oil and gas that prevents any one of calibre from understanding it? Unless of course you are a graduate of sekolah atap or you are just a ketua kampong somewhere, then maybe you will find it difficult to differentiate what's RON 98, what's regular (RON 85) and premium grade petroleum. Unless you are really thick, that you would be thinking, these oil majors are selling different products whereas in fact, they are all the same. Will all those cars using Shell petroleum in Sandakan break down if they switch over to use PETRONAS or Esso's or Mobil etc? No sir and marm- they are all the same.

I will tell you a secret. Whenever any one of the oil majors in Malaysia run out of any oil grade, they will borrow from each other. Hence car owners who think they are using oil from Shell may in fact be using that from PETRONAS. I know, because I was doing this 'borrow and loan' for Shell with the others in the late 80s.

What it means, that it can be anyone with the calibre of this Omar Ong who can be appointed if this does materialise, to the PETRONAS board. Omar Ong is luckier than most others because he knows the PM and maybe some others. His association with the 4th Floor Oxbridge Mafia is irrelevant. This guilty or tainted by association should be stopped. Everyone in the cabinet is tainted because most of them have been associated with the flaccid Pak Lah and also tainted, according to not a small number of people with Tun Dr Mahathir.

And of course if you were to ask or allow any PETRONAS employee, they will say the entire world about PETRONAS. This is a highly specialised industry. You require engineers, technicians trained in the various fields to operate and make PETRONAS thrive. You can't have an apam balek maker to work as an offshore engineer. Yes, you do require specialised knowledge obtained through rigorous college and university training to be a PETRONAS executive. I am sure, these gentlemen and women are all dedicated workers and are damn good at what they are doing.

But to use their personalised testimony to support our arguments that the appointment of such persons exemplified by this bloke Omar Ong as being a misfit or even worse, bearer of ominous signs, is a different matter. That would be an insult to the thousand other PTERONAS employees who are in fact desirous of quality management changes. Have you ever asked those outside PETRONAS who are dealing with them- the production sharing contractors, transporters, oil dealers, about how and what they think of PETRONAS employees. I mean no disrespect, but if you were to hear actual testimony of those who interact with PETRONAS employees, you will get the impression that technical proficiency does not automatically translate into profitability for PETRONAS. You will need the manager and executive who fine-tune all the various capabilities.

It's the PM's call.

30 comments:

Anonymous,  29 May 2009 at 10:20  

The problem with the 4th Floor was because its unknown i.e not defined within the Govt structure >>we have no access to any info detailing their role,their experience and qualifications.

Thus the hints of powerful hidden hands got bigger and more pervasive.

In the case of Petronas Board...never an issue before.Not too many people who sits on Petronas Boards anyway.But the major difference is one can visit the website and get the info >> the role of the board,background of the directors etc...

Omar Ong, Karam Wong,Walla Shukriyah..or whoever becomes directors have to declare that they're adults,of sane mind,not a bankrupt and have no criminal conviction.And one Omar Ong does not make a summer..thats the check and balance.

So..in summary its another hogwash and character assassination that is getting pretty prevalent these days.

Suci Dalam Debu 29 May 2009 at 11:15  

Datuk,

I am more worried about putting people there who will gang up and steal & rob petronas dry.

Ariff Sabri 29 May 2009 at 12:06  

anon at 10:20.
touche!

suci dalam debu..means tayyamun

agree. the more dangerous is the marauding gang who will pillage and treat Petronas as a private piggy bank

walla 29 May 2009 at 12:16  

http://is.gd/IIhZ

Anonymous,  29 May 2009 at 12:22  

negara mana sahaja (termasuk Zimbabwe sekalipun) -- asalkan ianya net oil producer (production higher than domestic consumption), kemudian ditubuhkan national oil corporation, maka ianya tidak akan lingkup. Saya rasa kalau lantik monyet kepada pengurusan, barulah syarikat nasional monopoli akan lingkup. Kalau harga minyak dunia naik, maka keuntungan petronas pun naik lah. selagi kita tidak berniat untuk merosakkan syarikat (sengaja berniat merugikan perniagaan), maka
petronas tidak akan rugi. Kerana saiz revenue inilah Petronas, Aramco(Saudi), dan beberapa syarikat minyak dari negara dunia ke-3 termasuk dalam senarai Fortune 500. Ini macam senarai manusia terkaya dalam dunia lah -- semua nama ada - Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Sheikh al-Makhtoum, Sultan Brunei, Richard Branson -- tetapi adakah mereka sama? Tersenarai dalam Fortune 500 tiada kena mengena dengan efficiency atau kebijaksanaan pengurusan -- it's the sheer revenue. Sesetengah negara Scandinavia amat menekankan kepada efficiency dan keuntungan maksima, jadi mereka tidak menubuhkan syarikat nasional, setakat mempunyai badan berkanun menguruskan dana petroleum dalam jangkamasa panjang. I worked for petronas as an executive for 10 years... and resigned from the job only a few months ago.

Hafiz,  29 May 2009 at 16:04  

Dato'

I don't know if you really know what you're talking about. If you think oil and gas industry is all about RON 95 or RON 97 or guys in Sandakan switching from Petronas to Shellm, it shows how simplistic is your idea about oil and gas industry and therefore it is better for you not to talk. Bikin malu saja.

Oil and gas is a complex array of industries across a very long value chain from exploration to upstream development to midstream to downstream and logistic. Petronas Dagangan (the operating unit that is responsible to sell RON 92 and 97 currently and making sure that guys in sandakan have adequate supply of gasoline) is only a small part of Petronas. their budget is not even 5% of total annual petronas work programme and budget. And earnings from their business contribute not even 2% of Petronas total earnings.

Try to decipher the businesses of Carigali (with its high risks and uncertainties), LNG , Refineries, MISC, overseas venture, coal seam gas, petrochemicals etc and you'll understand how complicated the business is.

The difference between hassan merican (HM) and Omar Ong (OO) was that HM started as a senior manager before becoming the VP and subsequently the President. He was well blended into petronas. He was not parachuted straight to the board. Granted that OO was said to have work in petronas in his earlier life - how many years and at what level? as a fresh grad ? was he in any decision-making position?

Is he able to communicate with the geologists, geophysicist, reservoir engineers, process engineers, petroleum economists, etc? Is he able to challenge their proposals?

A single deepwater project may cost USD 3-4billions and you can't afford to make mistake by dishing out contracts to non-competent contractor. Is OO capable to level his head and listen to advises from the technical experts? Is he capable to follow the current strict corporate governance that HM has established?

There are hundreds of talented managers WITHIN petronas, who understand the industry much better. 90% of them are Bumis.

Why Omar Ong?

gram.kong 29 May 2009 at 16:08  

You got it.

Yes,don't judge a book by its cover.The first criteria is sound qualification and clean slate.As chairman you need not know the nitty-gritty of the industry.This knowledge can be picked up while on the job, as Sakmongkol said, unless you are really dumb.

Abdullah is a glaring example of a book that showed a pretty cover.There was widespread euphoria when he took over from Mahathir.

After the 2004 GE everything went downhill.

Envy and character assassination seem to be a common traits among certain bloggers who think they are smarter than the rest of the world.

Cruzeiro 29 May 2009 at 16:15  

It is strange that the campaign to reveal Petronas' accounts fizzle out every time it is started for some drama. It beats me why it has to be "classified", when it all belongs to the rakyat jsut as much as the tax revenue is.

It doesn't matter who becomes the MD or CEO or whatever ... they all just seem to take turns at it - as long as Petronas accounts remain under the OSA.
It will be "business as usual" even if Anwar says that it is among the best managed Oil Giants in the world.

So no need to worry about it being "somebody's piggy bank" - that's what it always has been.

If you say it isn't, you have to prove it beyond doubt after all accounts are made public - ever since the Mahathir-Musa/Anwar/Ghafar regime at least!
Until then they have nothing to rebut allegations of "misappropriation".

Anonymous,  29 May 2009 at 16:32  

Dear writer,
"We must also be mindful that before Hassan Merican went over to PETRONAS, this MCKK chap did not have any inkling of the oil and gas industry."
What a cheap blow! This single fact has been over utilised for so long to justify anyone replacing Tan Sri Hassan. Funny enough, even Tan Sri Hassan himself keeps on repeating it! That was nearly 20 years ago when he first joined as Senior Vice President of Finance for Petronas. We could see NOW that there are capable top management in Petronas as compared to before to fill up the quota as Board Members. The rest of the Board Members are senior (I mean, senior with grey hairs and YEARS of experience) government servants or professionals who used to serve in/with the government with proven track records. Why suddenly Omar Ong out of the blue? What was his track record? Ethos was nothing. It is an overpaid consulting firm that has good connection with the government, that’s all. Is it because Omar screwed up his Petronas bond and he needs to redeem it back now? (The fact that you are silent about the scholarship fiasco is a bit worrying). Petronas is already answerable to the PM in all its manner. Why do you need his Right Hand man to be there in the Board? What’s his purpose? To babysit Hassan so Petronas gives more special dividends to the government this year?

"But to use their personalised testimony to support our arguments that the appointment of such persons exemplified by this bloke Omar Ong as being a misfit or even worse, bearer of ominous signs, is a different matter. That would be an insult to the thousand other PTERONAS employees who are in fact desirous of quality management changes. Have you ever asked those outside PETRONAS who are dealing with them- the production sharing contractors, transporters, oil dealers, about how and what they think of PETRONAS employees. I mean no disrespect, but if you were to hear actual testimony of those who interact with PETRONAS employees, you will get the impression that technical proficiency does not automatically translate into profitability for PETRONAS. You will need the manager and executive who fine-tune all the various capabilities."

Haha, this argument is the best joke of all. You accuse others of using personalised testimony and yet in the same breath you are offering your own personalised opinion that THOUSANDS (wow!) of Petronas employees are DESIROUS (nice choice of word) of quality management changes. How did you manage to come out with that baseless and shameless assumption? Quality management changes, hence bringing Omar Ong in? Wow, that's a smack of endorsement plus biasness we are having here, huh? You must know Omar very well then to back up his appointment. Or was it Omar himself who gave you these points? I agree with you; Petronas may need some tuning and employ the best execs and managers to improve their quality. But, you are discussing about one problem yet supplying a solution that has no bearing with the situation at hand (I didn’t know that by putting in an additional Board Member can suddenly change the process of employing the best execs). By the way, having Petronas scholars defaulting is also detrimental to the growth of the company.

"It's the PM's call."

Yes, if he makes the wrong move, it's the PM's fall.

Anonymous,  29 May 2009 at 19:17  

one pip...

the supposedly outstanding achievement of Petronas is their success in diversifying geographically ;in their core expertise thus extending their lifespan to beyond our country's oil reserves.

and as an offshoot Petronas technical ppl are valued in the global market and is in demand.

Is that the truth?

Unknown 29 May 2009 at 19:50  

Dato'

I believe that it is not "Omar Ong" that these Criers are worried about...
They are just worried of CHANGE..

"Omar Ong" or "KJ" or Anyone that is Typically Young invokes Fear...FEAR OF CHANGE.

The First Generation of PETRONAS Employees under the Leadership of Dato' RASTAM HADI set up the Foundation that made what PETRONAS is Now...Its sad that only Hassan Merican is better known. But we must not forget that Hassan Merican came in with an Already Established PETRONAS with Upstream and Downstream Units Firmly well established by Dato' RASTAM HADI...

Hassan Merican brought with him his band of Chartered Accountants to do what Chartered Accountants Do..Take Care of the Incoming Harvest..
But Chartered Accountants don't find and produce oil. Chartered Accountants by their nature are not encouraged to develop Superior Emotional Intelligence yet they are all pervasive throughout the organization.

Perhaps with the lowering in Oil Prices, PETRONAS should go back to its Core Business. Drop the Medical Tourism Hospital, Hotel, University and Real Estate Businesses that it has somehow picked up along the way within the last few years and Concentrate on its Core Business.

And this Requires CHANGE...not just in perspective but also in Management...

Ariff Sabri 29 May 2009 at 19:58  

hafiz,
you seem to miss the point:
i said:
What it means, that it can be anyone with the calibre of this Omar Ong who can be appointed if this does materialise, to the PETRONAS board. Omar Ong is luckier than most others because he knows the PM and maybe some others.
and you answered what you yrself missed:
There are hundreds of talented managers WITHIN petronas, who understand the industry much better. 90% of them are Bumis.

and FYI- i understand the oil and gas industry. but we are not here to discuss about the Petroleum Handbook are we?
if you work ofshore anyone like the one represented by this Omar- does nor threaten yr job.

Ariff Sabri 29 May 2009 at 20:07  

anon at 16:32.
this is not about Omar Ong- i said he was luckier than the others. the fact that Hassan Merican said those words is an acknowledgment that what he has mastered can be mastered by anyone else given above average intelligence. hence, it need NOT be Omar Ong- who is he? you said it yrself- head of an overpaid consulting firm.
my own thinking- he is just one of the Oxbridge Mafia. same intense feeling like yours.

you use the same arguments that sme people use- endorse Omar Ong lah- know Omar Ong very well lah...
hello friend, it can be anyone.
these fearful defenses appear to make it out that this chap Omar Ong is going to replace Hassan Merican.
i am glad you consider this a joke. obviously you are not a petronas contractor or other professionals from some oil majors who have worked alongside Petronas staff. but nevermind- its a joke.

Unknown 29 May 2009 at 20:27  

Dato'

Anon Says:
"one pip...

the supposedly outstanding achievement of Petronas is their success in diversifying geographically ;in their core expertise thus extending their lifespan to beyond our country's oil reserves."

Technical Expertise Can Be Bought;

From International OIL SERVICE COMPANIES..
In the Last Decade they are the Real Masters of The Development of New Oil Prospects Worldwide..
"Contractors" such as Halliburton, Schlumberger, Saipem, Snamprogetti and Many Others will do it for You for Money.
With the Support of OIL CONTRACTORS Technical Expertise National OIl Companies Such as PETRONAS ared able to go overseas and bid for overseas acreages...

So don't get too impressed when these oil geeks tell you how great they are...

Anonymous,  29 May 2009 at 22:37  

Hi there, again. It;s me, anon at 16:32.

Fair enough. It's the PM's call to appoint anyone under the sun into the Board of Petronas (Najib Tun Razak is the only one in the world who can literally say that "Petronas tu company bapak aku" and people actually wouldn't disagree. Just a joke).

By the way, what's your opinion about Omar Ong's problem with Petronas in terms of breach of his scholarship agreement?

Wouldn't it be unfair for Petronas to accept firstly an ex-employee into the company (going against the basic employment rule in Petronas), secondly, a loan defaulter or in a milder way, a person who did not fulfil his promise with the company and thirdly, this same person will be positioned at the top of the company which has already sued him for breach of contract? It seems that you have forgotten to address this point. Would love to hear your view on it.

You said:

"obviously you are not a petronas contractor or other professionals from some oil majors who have worked alongside Petronas staff."

How do you know? Hehe, nevermind. It's just a joke right. I'm nobody important.

Thank you.

Anonymous,  29 May 2009 at 22:57  

Hupefully will not have a same fate as PERTAMINA.........

Ariff Sabri 29 May 2009 at 23:11  

anon who said:
By the way, what's your opinion about Omar Ong's problem with Petronas in terms of breach of his scholarship agreement?

Wouldn't it be unfair for Petronas to accept firstly an ex-employee into the company (going against the basic employment rule in Petronas), secondly, a loan defaulter or in a milder way, a person who did not fulfil his promise with the company and thirdly, this same person will be positioned at the top of the company which has already sued him for breach of contract? It seems that you have forgotten to address this point. Would love to hear your view on it.


i hv not addressed this point because this is NOT about Omar Ong. since you brought up this matter- in the matter of all that he has done- if Petronas does not take steps to rectify them, then that tells us something about Petronas.
i am sure many people will want to know,as soon as Petronas realised that this chap defaulted on his scholarship or whatever, what steps did they take? if they did nothing, then what are we to make of Petronas's action or inaction?

Anonymous,  30 May 2009 at 00:11  

PETRONAS told us X PETRONAS, that once u quit u will never be accepted again.

Anonymous,  30 May 2009 at 00:11  

anon..

sebenarnya revenue petronas bergantung kepada naik/turun harga minyak. 10 tahun lepas, petronas ada menubuhkan satu syarikat consultant (wholly-owned) yang mana aktivitinya ialah di luar negara. Tetapi syarikat ini telah ditutup kerana tidak memberi pulangan baik kepada syarikat. Jangan salah faham, saya TIDAK mengatakan petronas teruk, cuma saya tidak bersetuju dengan mereka di luar petronas yang memuji2 berlebihan tanpa mengetahui realiti sebenar seperti nisbah minyak kepada saiz penduduk, penubuhan syarikat korporat minyak nasional yang diberi hak milik ke atas SEMUA minyak dan gas dalam negara. Sahabat saya bekerja dengan Nestle sebagai eksekutif teknikal selama 10 tahun dan bulan lepas beliau join Petronas. Tiada masalah apa2. Sebahagian amat BESAR income petronas adalah dari hasil minyak dalam malaysia. Adakah saya berpendapat CEO airline boleh menjadi CEO petronas? DEFINITELY! if u can understand operations expenditure (OPEX), capital expenditure (CAPEX), reading income statement, cashflow statement, balance sheet.. no problem. Sebenarnya technical people (engineers and technicians) pun boleh ditukar ganti contohnya dari kilang carlsberg untuk operasi kilang penapisan minyak. Do I think Petronas is the lousiest of companies? No! Do I think Petronas is the most efficient corporation in Malaysia or in Asia? No! It's so-so... macam biasa saja. Ini komodoti (minyak/tenaga/gas) sesiapa pun akan beli sebab kita boleh analyse kualiti produk secara fizikal (berapa % kandungan sulfur dan sebagainya). Tetapi kalau orang petronas kena buat dan jual kereta, saya yakin 1000000% kami pun akan mengalami nasib seperti Proton lah. There's no difference between Petronas and Proton. Yang membezakan ialah peronas diberi hakmilik semua minyak dalam negara dan ianya komoditi (semua produk sama sahaja). Kita serupa -- TNB rugi, Proton rugi, MAS rugi -- and u think Petronas is profitable because we are different from our brothers in those GLCs? Come on lah... kesian kat employee GLC lain. Orang management petronas ni biasa saja... senior manager pakai kopiah dan dapat 1st degree ketika usia 45 tahun (distance learning). This is not kutukism of petronas... just to wake up those yang impressed tak tentu pasal... oh yea, syarikat minyak iran (nasional) pun masuk Fortune 500

Anonymous,  30 May 2009 at 00:14  

the biggest robbers of petronas money are the government of malaysia. walaupun cukai dan royalti sudah dibayar kepada kerajaan, pemimpin negara masih juga mencampuri pengurusan petronas untuk mendapatkan kompromi dalam membuat keputusan. Adakah menyuntik dana ke dalam bank bumiputra dan proton itu purely a business decision? hmmm...

Anonymous,  30 May 2009 at 00:20  

Petronas is doing as fine as the Thai petroleum authority or indonesian oil corporation. The difference is thailand and indonesia r not net oil producers.

petronas ke, aramco ke... semuanya bergantung kepada services oleh berpuluh2 syarikat lain untuk expertise dalam pelbagai bidang. petronas is the owner... they just engage consultants la to find where oil reserve lies in our sea. moral of the story : There is NOTHING great about it.

Anonymous,  30 May 2009 at 00:27  

aduh.. nampaknya ada juga mereka yg berpendapat hassan merican mampu challenge proposal dari engineers dan geologist? sorry... proposal dari engineer dan geologist paling tinggi setakat level senior technical manager. level hassan merican perkara yang memeningkan kepala ialah seperti "will the demand for industrial gas in india and china will increse in the next 20 years?". Will oil price keep going up? Hassan Merican (in fact middle level management) tak kenal apa itu control valve technology, sample tanah di dasar laut. Fuh!

Anonymous,  30 May 2009 at 01:08  

Exxon CEO>>Rex Tillerson,Civil Eng,joined Exxon in 1975
BP CEO >> Tony Hayward,Phd,Geologist,joined BP in 1982
Chevron CEO>>David O'Reilly,Chem Engineer,joined Chevron in 1968
Shell CEO>>Jeroen van der Veer,Mechanical Engineer,joined Shell in 1971

The current Big Four led by technical person with years of experience with the company.

Contrast this with State oil companies;

Saudi Aramco CEO>>Abdallah Jum'ah,Political science graduate,joined in 1968
And Ibnu Sutowo the well known first CEO of Pertamina is an ex Army personnel.

DS Najib should ask himself>>what does he want petronas to be in 20 years time?
As it is our GLCs are goldmines of consultant geekspeak and short term goals but very little on long term creative organic business development.

I wonder wats Dato Rastam Hadi's basic degree?

Suci Dalam Debu 30 May 2009 at 06:04  

Let's get a few things straight here before some of us go off at tangent.

I have to agree that this is not a petroleum handbook and whatever said is just a broad picture made for easy reading. If you want to dissect and view it under a microscope, this is not the place.

There are many good things about Petronas but it is also not without its flaws. It is an official policy not to hire too many non-malay Malaysians. Hiring expats is ok. Likewise petrol stations are mainly reserved for one race :-(.

One very good thing about Petronas is that its coffers are not easily pilfered by their employees and its accounting standards is quite high.

Still there are current or ex-Petronas staff who moonlight using their spouse or relatives names etc. to be on the vendors program -----> NOT GOOD LAH!

We need people who are not only smart and hard working but also FULL OF INTEGRITY to helm Petronas.

If one doesn't not meet any of the above criteria, he/she should be OUT, irrespective of race.

kuldeep 30 May 2009 at 10:42  

Suci...

integrity (and principled enough )to ensure that the assets are used only for the right investments is a given >> and presumably processes are in place to ensure that no blatant misuse of funds can happen.

Real issue is in a decade we may become net importer of oil.So we need a leader who can guide Petronas to exist beyond the monopoly of local oil source?
According to one pip >> almost anyone can manage Petronas now cos of the monopoly..so no issue on that.Its what happens when the well dries out..can we be in the bracket of the Big 4 or will we be Pertamina?
Now>>we need a seasoned professional to make the right decisions.

btw>> altho SAK says its not about Omar its interesting to just visit Ethos website.Loooking at some of his consulting projects makes me wonder "Who is running the GLC Show"

eg of one of his projects for Tenaga
"Strategic Direction Review
A national utility company was unsure about its future strategic direction. Faced with a large infrastructure capital expenditure, increasing operating costs, limited ability to increase tariffs, talent drain, etc., the company was considering several options on the way forward..."

If Tenaga mgmt needs to consult with outsiders to understand their business...what the heck do they know?and why pay them millions?Good chefs don't use consultants to prepare menu and recipes...especially if the consultants does not know the difference between halia and kunyit.

We don't want Petronas to be similarly mismanaged.

Anonymous,  30 May 2009 at 11:48  

Nik, well said;

‘..In the Last Decade they are the Real Masters of The Development of New Oil Prospects Worldwide.." Contractors" such as Halliburton, Schlumberger, Saipem, Snamprogetti and Many Others will do it for You for Money. With the Support of these OIL CONTRACTORS, Technical Expertise National OIl Companies Such as PETRONAS are able to go overseas and bid for overseas acreages...as long as u have enough money to pay for the services done.

So don't get too impressed when these oil geeks tell you how great they are...’

After all most of these 'local oil geeks' r only runners - doing donkey site works, if they r technical; or pushing papers, if they happened to sit in the aircon office. All of them claimed self-important for shiok-dirism for working in Petronas & contributing to NBA egos.

Nik, pls tell anon29 May 2009 22:37 about the true stories of petronas contractors or other professionals from some oil majors who have worked alongside Petronas staff. Sak has mentioned some & yet get shoot down!

Someone said this ‘..There are hundreds of talented managers WITHIN petronas, who understand the industry much better(? - really). 90% of them are Bumis.’ This someone should re-read One Pip’s comments from 30 May 2009 00:11!

Anonymous,  30 May 2009 at 15:36  

Government-owned national oil corporations have lots of money (the rakyat's money) and that's why multinationals love to form joint-ventures with them. That's why we hear of Sinopec (China's national oil corporation) awarded this and that in Chad and Petronas awarded this and that in Sudan. I repeat, there is NOTHING wrong with it - I just want us not to feel impressed tak tentu pasal (for no reason). Cuba fikir, why oil and gas refineries and plants operate the same way? whether it's oil refineries in East Timur, Gabon, Texas, North Sea etc. Because pipeline companies build and maintain pipelines.

HKP7M8 9mm,  31 May 2009 at 00:31  

Dato',
Before anybody talks about who or who is taking over the 'steering wheel' of Petronas, please ensure that , THAT PERSON has the QUALITIES of INTEGRITY, HONESTY, COMMITMENT,SOUND KNOWLEDGE OF HIS JOB,and A MIND OF HIS OWN. He should NEVER BE DRIVEN BY THE FORCES OF POLITICIANS. Should NOT treat Petronas like his 'piggy bank'. That's we people ask of him.

Anonymous,  31 May 2009 at 14:14  

Everyone seemed to missed the point.
Omar ong is najib's special officer.
He is directly responsible to the pm.
Najib is shooting himself in the foot should his special officer is appointed as an Executive Director of Petronas.
No PM had done that before. S.Os are like a black hole where everything gravitates and sucked into it.
Since this is not abt Omar, then it should be abt this SO.
Is it prudent for najib to appoint his own SO as the director?
All business decisions will have to get a direct nod from this SO from now on since in Malaysia, the culture is, u follow what the most powerful director in the board will have to say.
With the SO as the director, even the executive chairman will play second fiddle as the SO will have the ears of the PM.
Now, is this prudent?
This kind of directorship will be opened for abuse.
Please look into this angle. Should petronas make a blunder, najib will be getting a lot of DIRECT criticisms from the public.

Petronas is the testament of a successful malaysian company run by dedicated n sincere bumis.
It could have gone under millions of time before should people running it were not dedicated and sincere. On top of it all, the govt had never intervened with a political appointment via this direct political appointment of the PM's SO as its executive director.

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