Shell collaborates with UTM to create Tension Leg Platform
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Shell Petroleum Company Ltd’s collaboration with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) to create a U-shaped fairings that hold the Malikai, the country’s first Tension Leg Platform (TLP), in place, has benefited both parties.
According to Shell Sabah engineer Shankar Bhat during the Malikai Media Open Day held yesterday, the collaboration was a cost-effective solution for the company.
“It has big impact on cost,” he said, explaining that among the benefits of doing local include the ease of acquiring after delivery support, periodic maintenance as well as emergency repairs.
He added that it would be difficult to fly experts from other countries to carry out the maintenance and emergency repairs.
“Flying people around would be hard,” he explained.
Shankar also said that if they did not go to UTM, they could go to the Maine Laboratory in Canada for the pre-qualification but that would mean the knowledge and expertise acquired would go to a foreign entity.
“And we wanted to use UTM,” he said.
UTM Head of Marine Technology Laboratory, Dr Kang Hooi Siang said that his team comprising two Master’s students, one PhD student, along with their supervising professor and five researchers (with PhD), were enlisted to work on the real oil and gas structure project at laboratory level sited at the university.
He added that unlike other universities in Malaysia, UTM was the only one that has large tanks that could be used to carry out the test locally, in Malaysia.
Due to the exposure, the university now has the expertise and track record to carry out customisation work of oil and gas structure, he said.
Meanwhile, Sabah Shell general manager Ian Lim said that they were constantly exploring and that activities were ongoing outside of Sabah and Sarawak.
“We hope to keep it competitive and going, and to grow our business,” he said.
On Malikai, he said that it was the second Malaysia deepwater project after Gumust-Kakap which was constructed in 2014.
He said that Malikai had the capacity to produce up to 60,000 barrels of oil daily.
He also expressed the company’s commitment to Sabah, stressing that Shell Sabah had its expert team sited at Plaza Shell.
“We have a world class team here and we are probably one of the few with world class workers all in one building,” he said.
He also said that the people involved in the making of Malikai were all in the building.
With regards to the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes, Ian said that various programmes had been carried out to help the local communities improve their welfare.
“Recently, we carried out entrepreneurial training which involved 40 people. In the end, only five were selected to the next level,” he said.
He also said that they would be partnering with a local NGO to build a solar and hydro centre at a village in Pensiangan.