UMS plans first intake for oil and gas course in Sept

KOTA KINABALU: Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) is planning to introduce a certificate and diploma level course for the oil and gas industry in Labuan.

Its vice chancellor, Datuk Dr. Harun Abdullah said announced this yesterday after signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Labuan Financial Services Authority (Labuan FSA) at the university’s chancellory building.

“This plan is crucial as Federal Territory of Labuan is a hub for the oil and gas industry. We plan to introduce a certificate and diploma level course at the end of the year followed by the introduction of degree programmes the following year.

“We are in the final stage of preparing the working papers and will bring this proposal to the higher levels including the ministry, hoping we can enroll the first 30 to 50 students by September next year,” he said.

Harun said UMS needs more synergy with industry players because it is only through collaboration such as MOU with Labuan FSA that the university will know the needs and expectation of the industry in terms of graduates that the university is producing.

Malaysia’s oil and gas acquisitions are expected to total RM15bil this year

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia's oil and gas (O&G) acquisitions are expected to total between RM10bil and RM15bil this year, as players look to acquire expertise and reserves out of their horizon to ride sectoral growth.

Singapore-based Deloitte & Touche LLP's tax partner and leader for South-East Asia mergers and acquisitions Steven Yap said that this would likely be seen within the upstream and midstream segments.

“This (projected) figure of RM10bilRM15bil this year is not going to be surprising. Should Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) decide to (launch another) acquisition offer for MISC Bhd, you would easily meet RM10bil quite fast. It can be quite huge,” Yap said at a press briefing at the Deloitte O&G Summit yesterday.

He noted that acquisitions within the O&G sector were not only limited to the local front but were increasingly becoming more international as well.

Deloitte Malaysia's corporate finance and financial advisory servicesexecutive director Nizar Najib said that this was in line with the global trend of huge capital expenditure allocation budgets.

On this note, Nizar said the marginal oilfields financing space might see smaller players with very limited financing capacity facing difficulties.

“Not many local companies have this sort of financial capacity. If you look at the smaller offshore support vessels, their chances are a bit slim, given that they would need bigger capacities and higher gearing to boot. The ones that have secured the contracts thus far are the big boys:SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd, Dialog Group Bhd and Petra Energy Bhd, as they would need the financial capacity for these (projects),” he said.

“We foresee that for the next round of risk service contracts (from Petronas), if the first mover players like SapuraKencana and Dialog execute their contracts well, this could very well see them (being) at the forefront for subsequent contracts,” Nizar added.

Moving forward, Nizar said that institutional investors such as pension funds and private equity firms could start to pour more money into the O&G sector due to high demand for upfront investments that had to be made in the industry.

“Not many local players have this kind of capacity today. Don't be surprised when institutional investors such as Permodalan Nasional Bhd, the Employees Provident Fund and Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tenterajump on the bandwagon as well,” he said.