GROWING WITH THE PEOPLE OF SABAH
Evolusi bersatu aims to be among the most active local oil and gas service providers
EVOLUSI Bersatu Sdn Bhd (EBSB) found its breakthrough project a year before the pandemic.
The Sabah-based company was awarded a contract for the onshore maintenance, modification and construction by Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd in 2019 for its facilities in Sabah.
According to EBSB managing director Muhamad Tolling, the company has been growing from strength to strength with the support from its local workforce and guidance from clients such as Petronas and through the Sabah government’s initiatives.
“We are fully staffed with a local multi-ethnic workforce to provide services in the areas of planned preventive maintenance, corrective maintenance, delivery, installation and re-commissioning on site, which are done manually and digitally by our specialists.
“Along the way, we have received many notable recognitions in performance and Health Services Excellence awards. We have been awarded the Gold Class 1 Award by the Malaysian Society for Occupational Safety and Health for two successive years (2019 and 2020),” he said.
He said EBSB has 600 talented local Sabahans from various backgrounds and trades to support its operations in Sabah, Sarawak and Kemaman (Terengganu) by engaging local manpower for the operations.
“This is how we create more value and build trust by expanding our business and growth throughout the country.
“We are now involved in most services within the industry and manage to build the trust from and value for our distinguished clients,” he said, adding that this in line with EBSB’S vision to be among the most active local service provider in the oil and gas industry.
“We believe in human capital development and our workforce is our biggest asset.
“A significant amount of budget has been invested in the development of their soft and hard skills, as well as in specialised training for technical personnel,” he said.
Local projects
EBSB has successfully completed several notable projects, amongst which was the procure, supply and commission job of the instrument line for turnaround at three terminals at Petronas Carigali’s facilities in Sabah and Labuan.
Established in 2002, the company has completed more than 130 projects with over five million manhours without lost time injury (LTI) up to May 2022.
Muhamad also attributed the company’s growth to opportunities provided by the government.
“The state government provided us with a platform for close engagements and networking with other players from all over Malaysia.
“Through a government-linked company (GLC), we have been invited as selected vendors of Petronas to discuss the directions to demonstrate a high level of integrity for the industry, especially for Sabah’s growth and development.
“We got invitations to strategic engagements with investors and service providers and were given the opportunity to be part of the sponsorship for their event, the SMJ-SOGIP week,” he said.
In line with the spirit of Sabah Maju Jaya and in conjunction with Keluarga Malaysia, EBSB has actively participated in a career and job fair via collaboration with an appointed state agency.
“We have fully supported the initiatives by the government in emphasising on human capital development.
“Through recognition of our capabilities and proven track record, we collaborated with state GLCS by enhancing our scope and aim to emerge as one of the local oilfield operators.
“We have been granted the opportunity to build and operate our own waste management facilities with the assistance of the state government, which will be the first in Sabah and targeted to kickstart by 2024,” he said.
Jobs for Sabahans
With proven capabilities and experiences, EBSB strives to achieve its mission and vision to become a local leader in the oil and gas industry and eventually be able to compete in the global market.
“We are also in progress to expand our business, giving an advantage to our local human capital by enhancing operation and maintenance services for offshore engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning (EPCC) and becoming a production operator in the future.
“Through the continuous support and trust from Petronas, as well as from production sharing contractors (PSCS) and the state government, we want to create more value for our clients and be a reliable partner of choice, offering solutions to our customers whilst contributing to the local economic development,” he said.
He added that every year, EBSB hires fresh Sabahan graduates from various disciplines as mentees or trainees. They are provided with training and attached to senior engineers on site for a hands-on industry experience.
“For the semi-skilled workers, we engage closely with institutes such as the TAS Institute of Oil and Gas, Akademi Binaan Malaysia and Institut Kemahiran Belia Negara, to hire their graduates and provide them with necessary training.
Working with Petronas
About a decade ago, said Muhamad, EBSB could hardly compete with the big companies from the other regions.
“Today, as part of support towards Sabah economic expediency and human capital growth, Petronas puts focus on local players’ involvement, which EBSB has benefitted from.
“There is more emphasis on the Vendor Development Programme (VDP), in which EBSB is one of the anchors under the Vendor Development Programme-x (VDPX), to help in the start-up of new local companies and their readiness to undertake job opportunities,” he said.
Under the programme, EBSB has enrolled a Sabahan company, guiding it on matters such as licensing and certification from relevant agencies, as well as on HSE documentations and improving its technical capabilities through EBSB’S existing work scope so that it can compete with peers in the industry.
“The programme has enabled local vendors to obtain proper guidance with direct involvement from anchor companies as mentors, in the hope that they will be able to improve their capabilities, which in turn creates more participation by local vendors in future.”
EBSB was appointed mentee for the Petronas Contractor HSSE Mentorship Programme 2019 and anchor for VDPX in 2020.
On EBSB’S plan to respond to energy transition, particularly in terms of capability, he said EBSB is aligned and responsive to any new requirements by clients as well as relevant authorities.
As one of Petronas’ vendors, he said, EBSB strives to excel its performance.
“We have always collaborated and complied with the authorities and our clients’ requirements and objectives. In terms of our readiness, we are focusing on the targets of environmental, social and governance.
“We are developing our organisation to merge these objectives; we have started doing 360-degree of maintenance plans to reduce the carbon release and upfront preventive maintenance to support the zero-emission.
“By adopting technology transfer, we have started to move from analogue to digital maintenance procedure.
“We are taking this transition seriously with all the capabilities we have as an organisation and be ready to comply with all sets of governance,” he said.