– by Karen Bong
KUCHING, Oct 11: Sarawak needs to send students to acquire knowledge in new diciplines including in fields related to data science in order to further develop the state’s engineering capability as well as ability to participate in the oil and gas industry.
Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg emphasised this in his speech which was read out by Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing at the Ocean Might Sdn Bhd (OMSB) ‘Load Out and Sail Away of EPCC D28 Phase 1 Topsides’ ceremony at KKB Engineering in Muara Tebas here yesterday.
Elaborating on, he said that the global oil and gas industry recognised the importance of big data as the technology has helped improve oil exploration.
“Previously, prospecting for oil meant drilling a hole thousands of metres deep inside the earth to see if there is any oil trapped in the rocks,” he said.
“3D seismic data has been the industry’s most impactful scientific breakthrough. This data vastly improves the picture of the earth sub-surface and removes the need to drill a multi-million dollar hole, with very little data to ‘explore’ what is in the rock,” he added.
Besides engineers, geophysicists and petro physicists, he pointed out that the advent of big data in the oil and gas industry also needs data scientists who are capable of deciphering and analysing all the data.
“This is the reason why I used to say that we have to send our students to acquire knowledge in new disciplines in order to keep abreast with digital technology which has impacted and transformed the way things are done,” he said.
“Therefore, now we have to send our students to study in fields related to data science which the government through Yayasan Sarawak is trying to do,” he added.
Abang Johari commended companies like KKB Engineering, Brooke Dockyard and others who have invested and developed their engineering expertise in order to receive the recognition of big, international players like Petronas and Shell.
The ceremony also celebrated OMSB’s Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Achievement of 280,000 manhours without Lost Time Injury (LTI).
OMSB, a subsidiary company of KKB Engineering Bhd, completed the project in just nine months from the detailed design engineering to the Ready For Start-up stage to enable Petronas to achieve the first oil from D28 project in November this year.
Minister of Local Government and Housing Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian, Demak Laut assemblyman Dr Hazland Abang Hipni, Petronas vice-president of Group Project Delivery and Technology Division Zakaria Kasah and KKB Group managing director Dato Kho Kak Beng were among those present. — DayakDaily
