LABUAN: The ASEAN Oil & Gas Expo 2012 (AGEX 2012) opened its second day with a special conference held concurrently with “Building Labuan as an International Oil & Gas Logistic Hub” as the industry topic for oil and gas professionals to converge in the region.
The international event brings together more than 6,000 industry professionals to congregate and address strategic, operational and technology aspects of the oil and gas industry.The conference covers topics related to the growth of the oil and gas industry in today’s economy and discussions on Labuan being considered as a third oil and gas hub of Malaysia after Teluk Ramunia and Pengerang in Johor.
High powered conference speakers presented their views and perspective of the oil and gas industry and the growth of Labuan as a regional hub.
Speaking on “Transformation of Labuan into an oil and gas hub from LSE Perspective- Challenges and Opportunities”, the CEO of Labuan Shipyard and Engineering Sdn Bhd, Mohd Azman Bin Nasir said based on the National Key Economic Area (NKEA), “the Oil, Gas and Energy NKEA is targeting 5% annual growth for the sector in the decade from 2010 to 2020. The target translates into an increase of RM131.4 billion in Gross National Income (GNI) by 2020.”
Azman believes that initiative should be taken to set up facilities to make Labuan as an oil and gas hub as there are many challenges that are being faced; among those are the limited number of cargo ships servicing the Labuan route which needs to be rectified.
Nurzalina bt Jamaluddin, Vice President of Malaysia Petroleum Resources Corporation said that sustaining the oil and gas production, maximising the value from downstream and services and moving decisively towards sustainable energy are the three strategies to continue powering up the economy.
On her presentation about “Strengthening Labuan’s Position as an Oil and Gas Logistic Hub”, she said that there are already anchor players in Labuan, but we need to encourage more.
Focusing towards making Labuan as the hub for oil and gas by the year 2017, she added that “for the economy to grow, we need private investments as well. The government will try to facilitate the incentive and infrastructure perspective.”
Based on the recent announcement in the Budget 2013, the oil and gas industry in Malaysia sees many incentives in the form of tax exemptions; investment tax allowance and tax incentives which help increase more opportunities to boost economic growth. This will pave ways for more business expansion opportunities with greater ties fostered among companies to help attain the oil and gas status for Malaysia.
“Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has announced the extension of the Global Incentives for Trading (GIFT) programme under the recent Budget 2013. GIFT will now extend to wider range of products such as raw materials, chemicals, agriculture products, commodities and LNG. This is on top of various tax exemptions and allowances up to 10 years for public-private partnerships in oil and gas projects,” said Deputy Prime Minister Dato’ Hj Muhyiddin Hj. Mohd Yassin.
In its third year, the ASEAN Oil & Gas Expo 2012 encompasses the leading oil and gas industry professionals around the region which expands towards penetrating emerging markets in the industry.
Speaking on the exhibition, Jerel Soo, the Managing Director of Fireworks Event (M) Sdn Bhd Malaysia, pointed out that 6,000 visitors both locally and abroad will be participating in the event this year.
“There are a total of 150 booths with more than 10 countries this year! Countries such as the UK, USA, Singapore, Indonesia, China, Taiwan, Middle East, India, Australia and Brunei are participating at the AGEX 2012,” said Jerel.
Top profiled industry players such as Petronas, Labuan Shipyard and Engineering, Asian Supply Base, and Halliburton are among the exhibitors who are participating in the AGEX 2012.
Jerel is looking at transacting approximately US$100 million during AGEX 2012 this year, which is an increase compared to the US$80 million generated last year.
“The ASEAN Oil and Gas Expo 2012 is indeed an important event as it is an ideal platform tailored for exhibitors and high profile oil and gas industry professionals to network, keeping up-to-date with the on-going developments and innovations within emerging markets in the industry,” he continued.
AGEX 2012 brings an opportunity for the oil and gas industry players to come together under one venue to explore ideas to venture further and upgrade healthy business relationships, in developing the global supply and demand chain.
Labuan is seen as a premier Oil and Gas Hub with the recent MOU between Labuan Shipyard & Engineering (LSE) and Asian Supply Base (ASB), and the enviable and strategic location, makes Malaysia aiming towards becoming a global key Deepwater Oil & Gas Hub after Houston, Rio De Janeiro and Aberdeen.
The three-day expo held in Labuan presents unparalleled marketing, education and networking opportunities. The expo incorporates five industry specific shows at one venue: ASEAN OffshoreTech 2012, ASEAN ShipbuildTek 2012, ASEAN Deepwater 2012, and ASEAN Process Automation 2012 and ASEAN Oil & Gas Expo.
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Some RM2.4bil worth of investments, mostly in the oil and gas (O&G) sector, will be poured into this International Offshore Financial Centre (IOFC) over the next few years, resulting in the creation of more than 3,000 jobs, said Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.
ReplyDeleteThe Deputy Prime Minister said the investments also included the proposed RM263mil expansion of Labuan Shipyard and Engineering Sdn Bhd and the construction of the RM250mil jetty at the Asian Supply Base here.
ReplyDeleteHe said the O&G-related developments augur well for the IOFC as well as Sabah and Johor which were poised to become major oil and gas players in the region .
ReplyDeleteThe development of sizeable gas fields in deep waters off Labuan and the completion of the RM3.8bil Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal in Kimanis would catapult both areas into leading O&G hubs in the country and possibly in the region, he said.
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ReplyDeleteSpeaking at the opening of the Asean Oil and Gas Expo 2012 here yesterday, Muhyiddin said other related developments including the construction of the RM1.5bil Sabah Ammonia and Urea project in Sipitang would further establish the area as a major oil and gas player.
ReplyDeleteMuhyiddin also said Johor would benefit from its proximity to Singapore which was facing near full-utilisation of its oil and gas storage facilities coupled with constraints from further expansion at a time when Asia's petroleum consumption was expected to grow by an additional 1.8 million barrels per day by 2020.
“With Johor ports located on major shipping routes, deep water marine accessibility and abundant space, Malaysia is poised to tap regional midstream logistics market of oil and gas storage,” he said.
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ReplyDeleteMuhyiddin noted that Tanjung Bin and Tanjung Langsat had already attracted a number of petroleum trading companies including Vitol, Trafigura, Royal Vopak, MISC and Dialog.
“Johor is on track to complement Singapore and could replicate a midstream oil and gas hub similar to what is available at Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp,” he added.
ReplyDeleteThe proposed RM60mil Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development at Pengerang would also transform southern Johor into the nation's new midstream and downstream oil, gas and petrochemical hub, he added.
ReplyDeleteMuhyiddin said more would be done to ensure that Malaysia remained a key O&G industry player and the Global Incentives for Trading programme, announced by the Prime Minister, would benefit the chemical and commodity players.
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ReplyDeleteMore “one-stop” integrated centres offering port facilities, warehouses, workshops as well as ship maintenance and fabrication yards would be needed as well as a highly-skilled workforce grounded on a strong engineering foundation, Muhyiddin noted.
ReplyDelete“Our engineers and technicians must have the flexibility to take up these new deep sea challenges,” he said.