Petronas contributing towards well-being of Sudan
by Mohd Fisol Jaafar
KHARTOUM, July 13 (Bernama) -- Petronas is certainly living up to
its promise of extending a helping hand to the people of Sudan, a
nation that it operates in, without prejudice to colour or creed.
Omar Suhaimi Abu Hassan, Petronas' country manager for Sudan,
said, "Wherever we go, eventhough the focus will be to get
benefits from our investments in the country we operate in, we
cannot run away from our obligation as a corporate citizen to
contribute to the well-being of that nation and its people."
Contributing to the well-being of the people and nation that it
operates in is the fourth mission statement of Petronas, Malaysia's
national oil corporation.
In recent years, Petronas has stamped its mark as a player to be
reckoned with in the international oil and gas industry as
evidenced by its numerous successful overseas ventures.
Speaking in the Sudanese capital to Malaysian journalists on a
familiarisation visit to Petronas' facilities in the African nation
recently, Omar Suhaimi said the statement fit very well with
Malaysia's policy of "Prosper Thy Neighbour".
"(Prime Minister) Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad raised this point
when he visited Sudan last year, saying that he would like see
this country prosper because in the end, it would be mutually
beneficial," he said.
Contributions by Malaysia in general and Petronas in particular to
the largest nation in Africa and its 30 million people have been
effected in many ways, said Omar Suhaimi.
"The most obvious impact on the Sudanese economy has been
through oil exploration and production (E&P) activities," he said.
Petronas' involvement in E&P activities in Sudan is via Petronas
Carigali Nile Ltd, a subsidiary of Petronas Carigali Overseas Sdn
Bhd (PCOSB).
Petronas Carigali Nile holds a 30 percent equity interest in a
consortium called Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company
(GNPOC). The other partners in GNPOC are China National
Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), holding a 40 percent stake,
Talisman (Greater Nile) B.V. of Canada (25 percent) and Sudan's
national oil company, Sudapet (5.0 percent).
The consortium was awarded a 30-year exploration and
production sharing agreement (PSA) and a crude oil pipeline
agreement (COPA) for upstream and downstream activities in
Sudan.
Upstream, the activities include the exploration and development
of existing and new fields in Blocks 1,2 and 4 covering some
48,900 sq km in the Muglad Basin, south of Khartoum. These fields
are estimated to contain total reserves of 2.8 billion barrels of
oil-in-place.
Current production in six fields -- Heglig, Unity, Toma South, El
Nar, El Toor and El Har -- in these blocks is 180,000 barrels per
day (bpd) and is expected to reach 200,000 bpd by 2002.
Downstream activities include the laying of a 1,504 km of export
pipeline from Heglig to Port Sudan, building six pump stations at
strategic locations along the pipeline and constructing a marine
export terminal at Port Sudan. Sudan's first export oil consignment
of 4.5 million tonnes was lifted at the terminal on Aug 30 last
year.
"We have a big operation in Blocks 1, 2 and 4. In a way, we will
reap direct benefits from these activities, and the Sudanese
government, being a partner in the consortium, will also gain a lot
from it.
"This directly contributes to the well-being of this nation. Of
course, it is up to the Sudanese government to decide how this
contribution can be translated for the benefit of its people," said
Omar Suhaimi.
Petronas also provides technical support by developing the
expertise and capability of local Sudanese involved in the oil and
gas industry. This is part of a strategy called "Sudanisation
Programme", which is also spelt out in the PSA with GNPOC.
"Sudanisation is modelled after our Malaysianisation Programme.
We want to share our success with Sudan," Omar Suhaimi
explained.
Training is part of the Sudanisation Programme. Petronas Research
and Scientific Services (PRSS), a subsidiary of Petronas, has being
instrumental in establishing the Sudanese Ministry of Energy and
Mines' (MEM) own central petroleum laboratory in Khartoum.
Petronas helped MEM to identify the requirements in designing the
lab facilities and the equipment required. It even helped to
evaluate tenders, suppliers and contractors besides training 15 of
their analysts and chemists at PRSS.
Why was Petronas chosen as the agent of change for Sudan's
manpower development programme?
"Personally, I think they could have gone to the other two parties
(in the consortium) but we have shown what we are capable of
doing after with our experience of 25 years," said Omar Suhaimi.
Petronas also offers scholarships to Sudanese students to study
at Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Perak so that they can serve
their people upon their return to Sudan.
"The benefit is not for us, it's for them. They will develop
themselves. This is a long-term development, not a short-term
gain or benefit on our part," explained Omar Suhaimi.
Another benefit for Sudan is the adoption of the work cultures of
the three foreign oil partners -- Petronas, Talisman and CNPC.
But, Omar Suhaimi pointed out that most of the work procedures
were developed based on Petronas' procedures.
He said GNPOC's procedures were tailored or designed along those
established in Petronas' own operations.
"The tendering process, evaluation and award procedures follow
exactly what we have implemented," he said.
Petronas is also involved in joint studies with the Sudanese
government on potential oil fields in areas bordering Eqypt and
offshore in the Red Sea, a first by any foreign oil company
operating in that country.
It compiles findings and data for MEM. "It is up to them (Sudanese
government) to decide whether those studies will result in the
blocks being developed, irrespective of who is going to be
operator.
"Even if Petronas is not the operator, it is in a way, still a
contribution to the well-being of the nation,." Omar Suhaimi said.
He said a key element in Petronas' globalisation plan was having a
long-term, mutually beneficial relationship.
Petronas, he emphasised, was not a "fly by night operator."
"We want to stay long (-term). We want to grow together, not
like some independent companies who come here, make some
money then sell their interests later.
"We won't do that here or anywhere else. We would like to expand
our business," Omar Suhaimi added.
Petronas' and its Canadian and Chinese partners' presence in
Sudan had also benefited the local business community here.
Omar Suhaimi said local house owners benefit from rentals of their
properties and so have traders in Khartoum.
There is now increased demand for a lot things, for example food
and other provisions, which he said, were never seen here
previously.
He dismissed some perception that the consortium partners were
rather unhappy with the way Petronas was doing things in Sudan.
"Basically, each individual partner has mutual respect of the other
because we feel that what we do is entirely ours.
"Somehow, we have managed to blend all these differing
ideologies or ideas we may have in reaching a common goal.
"Anyway, before we enter into this "marriage", we have done our
homework. Even in a forced marriage, we must to accept it and to
know how our partners work."
Omar Suhaimi said Petronas' work ethics had gained recognition in
Sudan.
Petronas has been widely accepted now compared with the time
when its engineers and technicians first set foot here in the
mid-90s.
"When we came here we faced some difficulties because our name
is not as big as some petroleum giants. When we first came,
nobody had ever heard of Petronas and some always
mispronounced our name, to mean something else.
"But, because of the strong relationship developed between our
two governments, three years down the road, they (the
Sudanese) know who we are and where we stand," said Omar
Suhaimi proudly. |
