By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, Aug 7: The Sarawak Petroleum Contractors’ Association (Speca) proposes a consortium to be formed among Sarawakian oil and gas (O&G) contractors.
Its protem president Datuk Rahman Lariwoo believed that it is important for a consortium to be formed in order for Sarawakian O&G contractors to participate actively in the O&G jobs in Sarawak.
“We have seen that big projects such as Pan Malaysia, maintenance, construction and modification (MCM) services and installation hook-up (IUC) are being awarded to the same contractors such as Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd and Petra Energy Bhd.
“This happened when there no other big Sarawak companies that are qualified to get the contract.
“There are also cases where the contract is awarded to non-Sarawak companies such as the recent HUC for SKG which is awarded to Carimin (Petroleum Bhd). This should not happen again.
“(Thus), we suggest that SME Oil & Gas Sarawak companies be allowed to form a consortium in order for them to be able to participate as a consortium.
“Each consortium will be lead by experienced and successful contractors.
“The mechanism of award should be more friendly such as direct negotiation according to each consortium area of expertise,” he said in a statement today.
However, Rahman said the selection of  contractors must not compromise the quality and safety of the project.
In this approach, Rahman said Speca believed every Sarawak contractor will have at least one project if not more and thus elevate the participation to 100 per cent in the next five years.
He said the proposal should not be confined to just new projects but include all O&G projects available in Sarawakian waters.
Rahman said Speca is aware that there were few ongoing projects that are behind schedule.
He asserted that some packages have been re-awarded to the same contractors.
Rahman added the proposed consortium should also be given a chance to qualify and awarded for the work packages.
Hence, Rahman said Speca would like to pay a courtesy call on Assistant Minister of Law, State-Federal Relations and Project Monitoring Datuk Sahrifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali to present the association’s intention.
He added that Speca welcomed the statement issued by Sharifah Hasidah for the participation of Sarawak O&G contractors in the O&G industry in Sarawak.
Currently, he said there are more than 400 Sarawakian O&G contractors registered with Petronas but only more than 100 are active in the country.—DayakDaily
