“This is a good window of opportunity for us to address all the inefficiencies that we have, within the organization and also the Malaysian oil and gas and industry.” Petronas will cut back some capex programs, he said, adding that it has already cut 23 per cent in operating expenditure. Wan Zul said his six-point strategy is as follows:
Cash generation. “What I mean by cash generation is our plants must be running tip-top, running all the time, we must sell our products at the best value we can get, so it has to be all across the value chain.”
Delivering on growth projects. “These include RAPID, floating LNG, more projects in Sabah and hopefully very soon the project in Canada. We need to deliver these projects well, no cost overruns and on time and with good health and safety levels.”
Striking down costs and simplification. “We are reviewing some of the processes that hit across the group.” These include HR, procurement and planning processes.
Investing in technology.
Talent management. “We are not cutting back on talent management spending, but I just want to be sure that the money is well spent and we spend in areas that we really need to spend. We are looking at how we can do this better.”
Improving work culture.“We are teaching the group starting with the senior staff on ways to improve our working culture.”
Wan Zul said oil and gas projects that have already been sanctioned will go ahead. But the company would also ask for rebidding for some of the packages in the RAPID project to reflect lower prices of raw materials. He said the cutback in Petronas capex would have an impact on service providers. “I think there has been retrenchment and downsizing within the service providers.”
“Today, if I look at the number of companies, I think the latest number is around 3,700 oil and gas service providers. But Norway has only about 700, which means many of our companies are small and the industry is very fragmented.
“We are encouraging consolidation. I know it is painful, but I think this is the way to go since by doing so the industry will be more efficient once we get over this challenging period.
Wan Zul said Petronas, with a 51,000-strong workforce, has no immediate plans to lay off its staff. He said some have been redeployed to RAPID.
He said Petronas would continue to hire new staff, but at a slower pace. “The hiring will continue, but maybe at a slower pace. We still need to bring in new people. We have not come to a point where we have to rightsize.”
Read More : http://www.nst.com.my/news/2015/10/steering-through-tough-times
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Pakcik Rosli has a humble beginning in online marketing way back in 2007 when there is no broadband in Malaysia and access to the internet is very limited. The High-Speed Broadband initiative launched only in 2010. Learn from a few renowned names on the internet marketing world and now Pakcik Rosli has more than 12 years of experience online. A hands-on guy with a never-give-up attitude.