OILFIELD SERVICES

Malaysian Expats - don't come back, stay where you are

2011-04-23T03:49:00.000-07:00

KUALA LUMPUR, April 19 — Malaysians who find themselves affording less than their contemporaries overseas have distorted and inefficient markets, lack of competition, low wages and a weak ringgit to thank for their poor purchasing power, which in the case of KL, is only 34 per cent that of New York.

Despite government assurances stating that inflation is under control, Malaysians are becoming increasingly restive over the cost of goods in relation to wages, especially those who are able to compare the corresponding price-to-wage ratios in developed economies.

Malaysians who have experienced working and living abroad often experience sticker shock when they come back and see prices in KL.

“Oh my God, a Tiramisu is RM15!” said Calvin Lee, a Malaysian who has lived in Sydney, Singapore and now London, referring to what cafes in KL are charging for a slice of cake as compared to about GBP5 (RM25) in London.

Aidi Zalman, a consultant who studied in the UK, told The Malaysian Insider that salaries in London could go much further than KL.

He had worked part-time as a waiter in London and noted that a single day’s wages of about GBP50-60 was already enough for him to buy a pair of branded shoes and even a low-end iPod, a concept unthinkable for local waiters.

“GBP100 can feed two apartments of students for a week,” he said. “Here you can spend RM100 and get hardly anything.”

“I hate it when politicians make stupid statements like Malaysia is cheap,” said Edward Seah, an engineer who has previously worked in Singapore and the US. “Prices might seem cheap when you convert it to US dollars yes, but then we should also convert our salaries to US dollars.”

Victor Wong, a Malaysian expat in Sydney, said that Australians get more mileage out of their money.

He gave the example of clothes where he said he can get a good quality shirt for about AUD100 but would need to spend about RM200 to get similar quality in KL.

Wong pointed out that even Asian food could be more affordable for those living in Sydney than KL.

“You pay RM15 for a bowl of soup noodles in KL shopping centres but only AUD10 in Sydney shopping centres,” he said.

The 2010 Prices and Wages report by Swiss bank UBS AG show that residents in KL have only 33.8 per cent the purchasing power of their counterparts in New York, 42 per cent that of London, 33.7 per cent that of Sydney, 32.6 per cent that of Los Angeles and 31.6 per cent that of Zurich.

The same study showed that on average, KL residents have to work 22 minutes to afford a loaf of bread as compared with 18 minutes in Los Angeles, 16 minutes in Sydney, 15 minutes in Tokyo and 12 minutes in Zurich.

The figures grow much worse for imported items. To buy an iPod Nano, a KL worker would have to labour a whopping 52 hours as compared with just 9.5 hours in Los Angeles and Sydney, 12 hours in Tokyo and nine hours in Zurich.

A check on salaries and prices in selected developed country cities by The Malaysian Insider showed that despite being touted as one of the world’s least expensive cities, KL residents pay as much or even more for chicken, broadband, cars and mobile phones as a percentage of their income.

Communications, for example, is one area where Malaysians are paying notably more than residents in developed countries even after currency conversion.

A 5Mbps broadband package costs RM149 in KL while in London, a 10Mbps package would cost GBP13.50, in Melbourne a 5-8Mbps package costs AUD40 and in New York, a 7Mbps service costs USD41.95.

Those who want to buy an iPhone 4 in KL, meanwhile, would have to pay RM1990 with a basic 24-month contract while in London, residents can get an iPhone 4 for just GBP199 with a basic 24-month contract and in Singapore, it costs just SGD210 with a basic contract.

Maybank Investment Bank chief economist Suhaimi Ilias said that what is important is local perception and not official inflation figures which claimed that the inflation rate in Malaysia was only 1.7 per cent last year.

“I think on the ground, not many people feel we are cheap,” said Suhaimi. “They feel that the cost of living is high regardless of what the inflation figures are.”

He added that inefficiency and lack of competition are contributing to the higher prices in Malaysia.

“I can’t understand why a motorcycle should have to cost RM6,000-7,000 and a car like the Perodua Viva should cost over RM30,000,” he said.

RAM Holdings chief economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng said that cars are one of the sectors where the Malaysian market suffers the heaviest distortion.

A Honda Civic in KL costs about RM115,000, or 20 times the average monthly salary of an auditor.

In Melbourne and London by comparison, a Honda Civic costs AUD25,000 and GBP19,000 respectively, or only about three times the average salary of an auditor in those cities.

The high cost of cars is part of the reason that Malaysians have leveraged themselves to a record 76 per cent of the country’s GDP.

Bank Negara statistics show that at the end of last year, 20 per cent of Malaysian household debt was due to cars, an asset which depreciates over time.

Yeah also said that the ringgit is undervalued and distorts the country’s purchasing power for imported goods.

“We need to ensure prices are right and that there are no market distortions, no subsidies and allow market prices,” he said.

But even if the ringgit is allowed to rise, there is no guarantee that savings would be passed on to consumers. The ringgit is now hovering at RM3.02 to the US dollar but Goldman Sachs predicated yesterday the currency could hit RM2.98 to the US dollar in the next three months.

When The Malaysian Insider contacted the director of wholesale and retail at government think tank Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), Ravidran Devagunam about the higher prices Malaysians pay for branded goods, he acknowledged that some retailers will maximise profits on luxury items not readily available in Malaysia but said that the government is “unable” to compel them to discount their prices even after the abolishment of import duties as luxury goods and apparel are not controlled items.

“However, we believe that market forces and consumer education will eventually force a price reduction of these goods over time,” he said.

The Federation of Malaysian Consumers Associations Secretary General Mohd Shaani Abdullah said people should question the prices that they are currently paying.

“Consumer protection will only come about when people make noise,” he told The Malaysian Insider when contacted. “Only then will politicians act.”

credit to The Malaysian Insider

Five Mistakes Online Job Hunters Make

2010-07-26T20:17:00.000-07:00

1. Forgetting Manners

If you use Twitter or you write a blog, you should assume that hiring managers and recruiters will read your updates and your posts. A December 2009 study by Microsoft Corp. found that 79% of hiring managers and job recruiters review online information about job applicants before making a hiring decision. Of those, 70% said that they have rejected candidates based on information that they found online. Top reasons listed? Concerns about lifestyle, inappropriate comments, and unsuitable photos and videos.

"Everything is indexed and able to be searched," says Miriam Salpeter, an Atlanta-based job search and social media coach. "Even Facebook, which many people consider a more private network, can easily become a trap for job seekers who post things they would not want a prospective boss to see."

Don't be lulled into thinking your privacy settings are foolproof. "All it takes is one person sharing information you might not want shared, forwarding a post, or otherwise breaching a trust for the illusion of privacy in a closed network to be eliminated," says Ms. Salpeter, who recommends not posting anything illegal (even if it's a joke), criticism of a boss, coworker or client, information about an interviewer, or anything sexual or discriminatory. "Assume your future boss is reading everything you share online," she says.

2. Overkill

Blanketing social media networks with half-done profiles accomplishes nothing except to annoy the exact people you want to impress: prospective employees trying to find out more about on you.

One online profile done well is far more effective than several unpolished and incomplete ones, says Sree Sreenivasan, dean of students at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He made the decision early on to limit himself to three social-networking sites: Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. "There is just not enough time," he says. "Pick two or three, then cultivate a presence there."

Many people make the mistake of joining LinkedIn and other social media sites and then just letting their profiles sit publicly unfinished, says Krista Canfield, a LinkedIn spokesperson. "Just signing up for an account simply isn't enough," she says. "At a bare minimum, make sure you're connected to at least 35 people and make sure your profile is 100 percent complete. Members with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn."

LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are the three most popular social networking sites for human resources managers to use for recruiting, according to a survey released last month by JobVite, a maker of recruiting software.

3. Not Getting the Word Out

When accounting firm Dixon Hughes recently had an opening for a business development executive, Emily Bennington, the company's director of marketing and development, posted a link to the opportunity on her Facebook page. "I immediately got private emails from a host of people in my network, none of whom I knew were in the market for a new job," she says. " I understand that there are privacy concerns when it comes to job hunting, but if no one knows you're looking, that's a problem, too."

Changing this can be as simple as updating your status on LinkedIn and other social networking sites to let people know that you are open to new positions. If you're currently employed and don't want your boss to find out that you're looking, you'll need to be more subtle. One way to do this is to give prospective employers a sense of how you might fit in, says Dan Schawbel, author of "Me 2.0" and founder of Millennial Branding. "I recommend a positioning, or personal brand statement, that depicts who you are, what you do, and what audience you serve, so that people get a feeling for how you can benefit their company."

4. Quantity Over Quality

Choose connections wisely; only add people you actually know or with whom you've done business. Whether it's on LinkedIn, Facebook or any other networking site, "it's much more of a quality game than a quantity game," says Ms. Canfield. A recruiter may choose to contact one of your connections to ask about you; make sure that person is someone you know and trust.

And there's really no excuse for sending an automated, generic introduction, says Ms. Canfield. "Taking the extra five to 10 seconds to write a line or two about how you know the other person and why'd you'd like to connect to them can make the difference between them accepting or declining your connection request," she says. "It also doesn't hurt to mention that you're more than willing to help them or introduce them to other people in your network."

5. Online Exclusivity

Early last year, Washington's Tacoma Public Utilities posted a water meter reader position on its website. The response? More than 1,600 people applied for the $17.76 an hour position.

With the larger number of people currently unemployed (and under-employed), many employers are being inundated with huge numbers of applications for any positions they post. In order to limit the applicant pool, some have stopped posting positions on their websites and job boards, says Tim Schoonover, chairman of career consulting firm OI Partners.

Scouring the Web for a position and doing nothing else is rarely the best way to go. "When job-seekers choose to search for jobs exclusively online -- rather than also include in-person networking -- they may be missing out on 'hidden' opportunities," says Mr. Schoonover. "Higher-level jobs are not posted as often as lower-level jobs online. In-person networking may be needed to uncover these higher-level positions, which may be filled by executive recruiters."

Write to Elizabeth Garone at cjeditor@dowjones.com

Why NOT you?

2010-07-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

So why was someone else hired and you weren't? These five reasons may shed some light on the situation.

1. You're overqualified
It's not just a cliche--you really can be overqualified for a position. It's especially true in a tight economy. A candidate that is more qualified would require a higher salary and benefits package for a competitive offer and for long-term retention. If someone else interviewed who fit the qualifications but didn't overly exceed them, it might be in the company's best interest to hire him and save the cash.

2. You don't know the right people
You may be great on paper, and you may interview really well--but if another candidate is the employer's tennis instructor's daughter, you might be out of luck. This isn't a reason you can't really avoid. Your best bet is to make sure you follow up with a genuinely appreciative phone call or note. Leaving a positive impression will keep you in that employer's mind if other opportunities arise.

3. You hit it off, just not professionally
Having a good rapport with your interviewer is great--however, if you bonded over your love of tequila shooters, you may have made a friend and not an employer. In a less extreme example, you may be very easy to interview but still not right for the position. While being friendly and personable are two very important traits, they won't guarantee you the job.

4. You came with conditions
You may be a good fit for the job, but if you come with strings attached, you may not get hired. If you can't see yourself sticking to the position long-term, or if prior commitments mean you'll have to work odd hours, it could take you out of the running. If possible, come in condition-free or at least willing to compromise. However, if you have a restriction that is non-negotiable, it's only fair to both of you to bring it up in the interview--there's no sense in wasting time if the situation won't work out.

5. An unpredictable reason
Often, the reason is one you may never know. You may get an unrelated job simply for having a shared interest with the interviewer, or perhaps because you have a skill the employer hopes to learn from you. It may be as simple as two or more candidates being equally qualified, and you lost the coin toss.

It may also be a simple reason like an off-the-cuff comment you probably shouldn't have made, or a more blatant reason like answering your cell phone during an interview (never a good move, no matter how friendly you are with the interviewer!). Be honest with yourself about the interview process--if you can think of a slip up, learn from your mistake and keep it in mind for your next interview.

The bottom line
Whatever the reason, do your best to learn from it and apply it to your next interview. Don't be afraid to politely follow up and inquire about why you weren't right for the position--just make sure you don't come off as sulking. Be professional, and thank them for helping you to understand what you did wrong, or where you can improve. After all, if you made it to the interview stage once, you're likely to do it again.

Help Prevent a Catastrophic War for America and the World!

2010-07-20T23:43:00.000-07:00

Help Prevent a Catastrophic War for America and the World!

By David Duke

The Zionists are at it again. The Jewish extremists in the American media and government told us the colossal lie that Iraq had “weapons of mass destruction” and that Saddam posed a threat to the United States. In truth, he had ten years earlier destroyed such weapons and had never hurt a single American.(unlike Israel)

In fact, at America’s urging, Saddam Hussein went to war against Iran. He was our ally. But, Israel considered him a dangerous enemy and he supported the Palestinians in their fight for freedom. So, the Jewish-dominated media and political establishment filled us with lies about Iraq and made him out to be an enemy of America.

Of course, there were no weapons of mass destruction. Anyone with intelligence could discern that before the war. In the months before the war I showed how after a U.S. sponsored team searched for months and found no weapons, that the whole story was nothing but a big lie to justify war for Israel. It turned out I was right. A special American task force costing $1 billion US dollars found nothing, and found proof that Iraq had destroyed its weapons years earlier.

We went to war for a lie. Thousands of our brave men were killed for this lie. Hundreds of thousands have been harmed for this lie. In truth, America is far more hated and in far more danger from terrorists because of this lie that hundreds of millions of people around the world saw as totally unjust, a war that killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi men, women and children in the name of “freedom.” And it will cost America trillions of dollars at time when many Americans are economically suffering.

And now the Zionists Power Matrix is at it again, telling us that Iran has a nuclear weapons program, even after our own intelligence agency issued a report saying that there is no evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program. Israel is the nation that has violated dozens of UN sanctions. Israel is the nation that won’t allow weapons inspections. Israel is the nation that won’t sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and that has a vast horde of chemical, biological, conventional and nuclear weapons. Israel is the nation that has committed terrorism against America in the Lavon Affair and the Attack on the Liberty…who has spied on us in the Pollard Case. Israel is nation that has killed tens of thousands of civilians, invaded its neighbors repeatedly, has tortured hundreds of thousands in its prisons, and has brutally stolen the land – and now brutally occupies Palestinian land.

In the height of Chutzpah, Israel does this horrendous evil and then demands sanctions against Iran, a nation that has not invaded its neighbors, has not stolen the land of hundreds of thousands of people, nor murdered and bombed women and children in beautiful cities like Beirut and even in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. And Obama and Clinton, plus the Jewish controlled media scream to the world of the evil of Iran all while Israel maintains a brutal occupation of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, routinely kills Palestinians children, and steals their homes and lands!

Every American has heard, a thousand times, that Iran’s President, Ahmadinejad, threatens to “Wipe Israel off the map.” That quote is an outright lie repeated every day by the media. I was present at an international conference in Tehran when he supposedly said this. He only said that he believed the Zionist regime will fall just as the communist regime fell in Russia. His speech was boring in that he repeated, probably twenty times, the need for peace in the region and the fact that all people, Christians, Muslims and Jews must be accorded their human rights and dignity. But the media, just as before the Iraq War, didn’t let the American people, and few of the world’s people, know the truth of his statements. You didn’t hear any of his words for peace and human decency, just the lie that he would somehow “wipe Israel off the map!”

One of the best ways we can help prevent a catastrophic war with Iran is to distribute and spread my new video: No War for Israel in Iran. I spent a hundred hours of my time and effort in making this video for you, and for my fellow Americans, free of any charge. I hope you will spend a few short hours in helping the world to see this video which has the power to wake people up to the evil of this planned Zionist war.

Please be sure to watch this video, “favorite” it, rate it, and comment on it — as that helps the video rise in ratings and thus be seen by more people. Send the link to everyone on your email contact list, talk about the video in chat rooms and in Internet forums, and tell your friends, family and neighbors about this powerful video.

Thank you very much for your dedication and your unselfish efforts to help America and the world avoid what would be a catastrophic war!

The truth is that every day we come closer to this catastrophic war. We all face incredible loss if this war goes ahead. Let’s stand together to prevent it!

Dr. David Duke

Mandeville, La

New Hiring!

2010-07-19T19:12:00.000-07:00

1. Nippon Oil, Malaysia.

- seeking Drilling Engineer. Onshore drilling in Miri.

2. Qserv, Malaysia

- Coiled tubing operator, Slickline operator.

Life's good? Life's sucks?

2010-06-14T23:58:00.000-07:00

This is life..

2010-06-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

Lesson Learnt

2010-06-10T20:32:00.000-07:00

HR : Biased?Racist?Discrimination?

2010-06-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

Anyone ever experienced this situation? Lets share!..What company..whose that people..how..lets kick their ass back!

URGENT HIRING

2010-06-02T01:40:00.000-07:00

Position : Coiled Tubing Operator

JOB DESCRIPTION

Reporting to the Coiled Tubing Supervisor, the Coiled Tubing Operator is responsible for operating, driving and maintaining coil tubing equipment in base and location. Performs assembly, checking, and loading necessary equipment required for scheduled jobs; including operations and maintenance of equipment and facility. Works with CT crew on location to assemble and run the CT and Well Control equipments.

RESPONSIBILITIES

· Assemble and prepare equipment for installation and service, perform pre- and post- job coiled tubing equipment inspections, and take responsibility for safe crane and rigging operations during the delivery of services.

· Operate auxiliary equipment and pump unit while maintaining excellent quality control and in accordance with company policies and procedures. Recognizes equipment malfunctions, and correct them as necessary or report them to Supervisor. Constantly develop a working knowledge of the major components of coiled tubing, well control equipment.

· Monitor well control parameters and calculations before and during job applications, and perform preventative maintenance on all coil tubing equipment.

REQUIREMENTS

· 3+ years or related oilfield service experience.

· Candidates with an experience in Matrix Acidizing, Nitrogen Lift, Cementing and other major CT jobs are preferred.

· Willing to work internationally

ONLY SHORT-LISTED CANDIDATES WILL BE CONTACTED. Interested applicants are invited to send application with full resume indicating qualifications and experience, expected salary and recent photo to: Jihan.Wan@qserv.com

Oil&Gas Companies directory.

2010-05-29T08:35:00.000-07:00

Try to check on this website. Some of the HR e-mail posted here! Good luck

http://www.mogsc.org.my/directory.php

New Hiring! 2010

2010-05-26T20:07:00.000-07:00

Experienced / Graduate Engineers, Coiled Tubing/Pump/Slickline Operators.

1. AkerQServ

2. Halliburton

3. Weatherford

4. Schlumberger

Bidding on progress for Nippon Oil tender. Just send your resume as they are looking for technicals.

HSE position.

1. Synergy Oil & Gas Engineering.

email to: razmahwata.razalli@synergykl.com.my

Also look forward to apply to:

1. Bakerhughes , Malaysia

2. Orogenic, Malaysia

The IMPOSSIBLE: Just Doing It

2010-04-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

Can you STOP the job?

2010-04-22T19:59:00.000-07:00

Why Bury Carbon?

2010-01-06T19:23:00.000-08:00

Global Warming and the Role of CO2

In a nutshell, the facts are as follows:

Global mean temperatures (figure 1) have risen anomalously over the last century, and global mean temperature is a key determinant of climate change.
Since the year 1750, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (figure 2) and other greenhouse gases has risen by an amount unprecedented in the last several million years.
Anthropogenic CO², generated by burning fossil fuels (figure 3) and deforestation, fully accounts for the increase in atmospheric and oceanic carbon dioxide in recent times.
There is a well established physical mechanism, the greenhouse effect, linking rising concentrations of atmospheric CO² with rising temperatures. The observed elevated levels of CO² account quantitatively for recent global temperature rise.

All other mechanisms which might account for the rise in global mean temperatures are either speculative or, where they are well established, insufficient to account for the measured temperature increase. Moreover, even if these alternative mechanisms do contribute to rising temperatures, their contribution would not eliminate the greenhouse warming of CO² which will continue to contribute in any case. The only tenable argument arises if there are other mechanisms which completely swamp the effect of CO² and render it pointless to limit the CO² levels. This does not appear to be the case.

Figure 1: Hadley Centre data showing annual global land-surface temperatures (grey bars), spatially averaged and expressed as deviations from the mean of the temperatures between 1961 and 1990. The smooth curves show decadal moving averages estimated by a variety of independent teams.

Figure 2 : Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations, measured in parts per million (ppm), for the last millennium, using ice core data up to 1977 and the direct CO2 measurements (in blue) made in Hawaii by Keeling from 1958 onwards

Figure 3: Anthropogenic CO2 emissions, measured in millions of metric tons of carbon per year.

The Earth's Greenhouse Effect
At the core of the greenhouse mechanism is the behaviour of certain molecules which can absorb, and subsequently re-radiate, infrared radiation. Water molecules have this property and are accompanied in the earth's atmosphere by carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and small traces of other gases. Most of the sun's radiation comprises photons with frequencies above the infrared which are not strongly susceptible to absorption by the greenhouse gasses (GHGs). These higher energy photons pass through the atmosphere, largely unimpeded by molecular absorption, and warm the earth below. However, by virtue of its being much cooler than the sun, the earth radiates much of its heat energy in the infrared. (The different spectra of incoming and outgoing radiation are shown in figure 4.)

Fig 4: The spectrum of incoming solar radiation is shown in red, and the outgoing thermal radiation of the earth is shown in blue. The absorption bands of the atmosphere are shown below the wavelengths.

Since most of the energy flux leaving the earth's surface consists of infrared photons which are readily absorbed and re-radiated by the GHGs in the atmosphere, individual infrared photons do not propagate far in the lower atmosphere. They have a mean free path which is much shorter than the effective (infrared) optical thickness of the atmosphere. The overall effect of this trapping of infrared is that the lower atmosphere is warmed, raising the total flux of heat energy arriving at the earth's surface (referred to as "radiative forcing") by about 1.7 Wm-2. Indeed, even before industrial emissions of CO₂,the naturally occurring GHGs in the atmosphere (largely water and CO₂) had already caused the earth to warm above a frigid -18oC, which would be its equilibrium temperature in the absence of all greenhouse gases.

Global Mean Temperature Projections
Furthermore, the global warming observed in recent decades is consistent with the projections of detailed numerical climate models. Figure 5 shows estimates of recent global mean temperature with and without the influence of anthropogenic forcing, compared to the data themselves. Clearly this ensemble of models broadly reflects the observed global warming when both natural and anthropogenic forcing is included, but fails to capture this trend when anthropogenic forcing is excluded.

Figure 5: Numerical climate model predictions for mean global temperature, both with the influence of anthropogenic forcing (shown in orange), and without (shown in blue). Actual temperatures are shown in black and the major volcanic eruptions are marked.

Could it be something else?
The question that remains is: could the observed changes, particularly in global mean temperatures, be caused by something other than carbon dioxide? Various mechanisms have been proposed:

Changes in Solar Output
There has been a flurry of speculation in recent years that, while not denying the increase in global mean temperature, the source of global warming is in fact an increase in the output of the sun, which varies with the sunspot cycle and over which we have no control. The tentative basis for this suggestion is that the sunspot activity of the sun has increased significantly since the Maunder Minimum of the second half of the 17^th century when, during a period of 30 years, only about 50 sunspots were observed¹. This compares to a value of about 30,000 for the sum of daily sunspot numbers accumulated over a more representative 30-year period. The Maunder Minimum coincided with the coldest part of the little ice age and this association broadly gives rise to the suggestion that it is the sun, and not CO₂, which caused the recent warming.

However the data do not support this contention. The increase in total solar irradiance since the Maunder Minimum (compared to contemporary minima) is about 0.04%, which amounts to a radiative forcing of about 0.125 Wm^-2, while the increased radiative forcing since the beginning of the industrial era in 1750 is about 0.15Wm^-2. Compared to the radiative forcing of 1.7Wm^-2 due to CO₂, we can see that the contribution of the variation in solar output to global warming is an order of magnitude lower than that of anthropogenic CO₂. So, while there is evidence for a small increase in solar forcing since the 17th century, the magnitude of this forcing is small compared to that of anthropogenic CO₂ and the overall increase in solar forcing is not sufficient to account for recent warming (by a large margin).

Galactic Cosmic Rays Modulated by Solar Activity
Various mechanisms have been proposed in which the modulation of cosmic rays by variations in solar activity influence climate² in some way. However, because of the complex chain of interactions linking variation in the flux of cosmic rays to physical phenomena in the atmosphere, quantitative estimates of the influence of cosmic rays on climate have not been made. A variety of associations between solar cycles and cloud cover have nonetheless been claimed³ although these remain highly controversial. An empirical association between variation in cloud cover and solar activity between 1984 and 1990 continues to be disputed because of uncertainties about the decadal signal itself, the ambiguous phase with solar activity and its separate dependence for low, middle and high clouds. In particular, there is no correlation to global cloud cover after 1994 ⁴ ⁵without the application of de-trending methods which are subject to question⁶. Furthermore, cloud cover time-series from ship synoptic reports for the multi-decade period 1952 to 1997 do not show any correlation with cosmic ray flux⁷. While there is a small but statistically significant positive correlation⁸ between UK cloud cover and galactic cosmic ray flux for the period 1951 to 2000, cloud cover over the USA for the period 1900 to 1987 exhibits a negative correlation with the cosmic ray flux⁹.

Because of the uncertainty in the mechanisms, it has also been suggested that it may not be just modulation of cosmic rays which plays a role, but rather the direct variation in sea surface temperature with solar irradiance, and also internal variability caused by El Nino¹⁰.

The overall conclusion must be that this phenomenon is very poorly understood. Although it might prove that cosmic rays modulated by the sun do have an influence on cloud cover, and therefore on climate, the evidence is currently tenuous.

The Pacific Decadal Oscillation
A suggestion with some currency is that oscillations in ocean temperature account for recent warming and, furthermore, that these will now start to cool and global warming will be over. The suggestion is based on the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), a phenomenon in which regions of the Pacific Ocean alternately warm and cool with a period of 20 to 30 years. Figure 6 shows the ocean surface temperature distribution during what are termed the 'warm phase' and the 'cool phase' of the PDO.

Figure 6: Ocean surface temperature distribution during what are termed the 'warm phase' and the 'cool phase' of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation.

I suspect that, to some degree, it is this warm phase/cool phase terminology that has led some to assert that, since we are now going into a cool phase, the Pacific will cool down. This is not the case at all. The term "warm phase" just means that the equatorial Pacific is in the warm part of its cycle. It is interesting to consider the mean sea surface temperatures (SST) in the North Pacific throughout the warm/cool phases of the PDO. They reveal (figure 7 ) that global mean sea surface temperatures exhibit a rising trend regardless of the phase of the PDO.

Figure7: Global mean sea surface annual temperature data for the entire globe (a), and the two hemispheres (c) and (d), shown by the red bars superimposed with the decadal variation, estimated by a variety of teams. (The variation between estimates depends on details of how the raw data are treated).

Nature's Changing Course
It is appealing, of course, to believe that damaging climate change has nothing to do with our activities. If this were the case, then we could abrogate any responsibility to act. This has lead to claims either that recent climate change just reflects the vagaries of nature and has nothing to do with our emissions, or that climate change is natural and our having caused it is of no real consequence The inherent conclusion being that humanity should just adapt to climate change.

The first claim does not stand up. The evidence that anthropogenic emissions play a key role in climate change is substantial. Indeed, anthropogenic emissions have lead to changes of such magnitude and rapidity that known natural mechanisms cannot readily account for them.

As for the second claim, humanity adapting to climate change will come at a great financial and human cost. We have established much of the infrastructure of civilization in regions which are vulnerable to climate change¹¹. This applies to agriculture and water resources as well as to the concentration of extensive development along coastlines.

Figure 8: The coastline of southern/eastern USA showing the potential for inundation by sea level rises of 1.5m (red) and 3m (blue).

The current rate of sea level rise, as measured by the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite, is 3.1mm/year ±0.7mm/year¹² and current projections suggest the possibility of sea level rise of a meter by 2100, depending on the dynamics of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Figure 8 shows the coastline of the southern/eastern USA and the potential for inundation by sea level rise, with the impact of sea level rises of 1.5m and 3m. The value of the infrastructure lying within 1.5 meters of current sea level already runs into trillions of dollars. If global warming continues to accelerate the melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet, as seems likely if we do not act to limit emissions, sea level rises of several meters could occur over a few centuries.

While the cost of mitigating climate change is estimated at a few percent of world GDP, the cost of adaptating to its consequences is estimated to be closer to 20%¹³ . Furthermore, it has to be acknowledged that the longer we leave any real attempt to mitigate, the more we will be forced to adapt. It seems unlikely that we can entirely mitigate the effects of emissions to date. Some combination of mitigation and adaptation is therefore now inevitable. It still remains the case, however, that the more we can mitigate, the lower the overall cost of dealing with future climate change.

Temperature Rise Causes Carbon Dioxide Emissions (rather than the other way round)
The most recent analysis of the striking correlation between global temperatures and atmospheric concentrations of CO₂ in the paleoclimate record indicates that temperature rise precedes the rise in carbon dioxide by several centuries¹⁴. This has been misinterpreted by some to demonstrate that CO₂ is a mere consequence of temperature rise and not a cause. However, as we have discussed, the presence of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will inevitably lead to warming. What we are seeing in the paleoclimate is a feedback mechanism. Initial warming induced by variation of the earth's orbit around the sun, does indeed give rise to an increase in the concentration of CO₂, through mechanisms which probably include the reduced solubility of CO₂ in the ocean surface and variation in the biological carbon cycle. The extra CO₂, in turn, contributes to further warming by the greenhouse effect. Without this positive feedback, the variation in temperature induced by the earth's orbital variation alone would be insufficient to account for the transition from glacial to interglacial conditions.

In the case of recent anthropogenic warming, there is no need of a mechanism to initially raise temperatures to release CO₂. We create the CO₂ directly by burning fossil fuels. Moreover, we generate carbon dioxide in such large quantities that it can induce substantial warming, much more rapidly than in most natural episodes in the earth's past.

Conclusions
The case for reducing CO₂ emissions is rational. The fact of a significant rise in mean global temperature over the last century is incontrovertible, as is the fact of a 36% rise in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere since the beginning of the industrial revolution. Moreover, the rise since th₂en, in the levels of CO₂ found in the ocean and in the atmosphere, is commensurate with the volume of CO that has been emitted by human activity and is very largely accounted for by the emissions associated with burning fossil fuels.

Complementing these facts is the known physics of the greenhouse effect. Long before anyone was worrying about modern climate change, it had been established that traces of greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere caused substantial warming. Indeed this mechanism accounted for the fact that humans found themselves on a planet warm enough to support their existence, rather than in the frigid environment that would have prevailed without the greenhouse effect.

The facts and the physics sit comfortably together as a consistent description which adequately accounts for the observed global warming. None of the other mechanisms proposed to explain global warming, be they variations in solar irradiance, solar modulation of cosmic rays, or uncontrollable natural events, exhibit anything like the quantitative consistency exhibited by the anthropogenic CO₂mechanism described here. Even where the descriptions of these other mechanisms are quantitative, as is the case with solar irradiance, the effects prove small when compared to greenhouse warming, which already comes in at the correct magnitude to fit the facts.

References

Eddy, J., Science 192 4245 18th June 1976
Gray et al. 2005 Review of the influences of Solar Changes on Earth's Climate Hadley Centre Technical Note No. 62
Marsh et al. (2000) Phys. Rev. Lett.,85,5004-5007
Kristjansson et al. 2000 J. Geophys. Res.,105(D9) 11851-11863
Sun and Bradley 2002 J. Geophys. Res.,107(D14)
Usoskin et al. 2004: Geophys. Res. Lett.,31, L16109
IPCC AR4 2007
Harrison et al. 2006 Proc.Roy Soc. London Ser. A, 462,1221-1233
Udelhofen et al. 2001 Geophys. Res. Lett. 28(13), 2617 -2620
Kernthaler et al. 1999 Geophys. Res. Lett.,26(7), 863-866
Sheppard and Socolow 2007 : Amer.Inst.Chem.Eng.,53(12) 3022-3028
Cazenave and Nerem 2004 Rev. Geophys., 42(3)
Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change - HM Treasury
http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/stern_review_report.htm
Mudelsee 2001 Quat.Sci.Rev.,20, 583-589

DEAD TIRED

2009-12-14T18:23:00.000-08:00

BBC News- Whether could be trust on or not...

2009-12-14T18:16:00.000-08:00

Oil has broken through the landmark $100 a barrel, driven by a slumping dollar, geopolitical instability and worries over a winter fuel supply crunch.

See how the price of oil has risen - and fallen - since 1970 against a background of key world events.

IF IT IS NOT SAFE, STOP THE WORK!!

2009-12-05T20:02:00.000-08:00

Hard to choose?

2009-12-03T17:50:00.000-08:00

Guys...if let say you have to choose between (top big 5) Schlumberger--Halliburton--BJ--Baker--Weatherford...etc...etc..what should you choose?

Here I would like to ask everybody's opinion and view regarding every single benefit, life, culture of work..etc..etc..Just share with others...Everybody out there from O&G world...give your opinion about your company or others you might know...!

Coalbed Methane: Clean Energy for the World

2009-12-02T22:59:00.000-08:00

Coalbed methane can be found almost anywhere there is coal. Considered a dangerous nuisance in the mining industry, it has potential as an abundant clean energy supply to help replace other diminishing hydrocarbon reserves. Recent developments in technologies and methodologies are playing a large part in harnessing this unconventional resource. Some of these are adaptations of those used in conventional oil and gas operations, but others are new applications designed specifically to address coal’s unique properties.

When humans discovered rocks that could pro-vide warmth and fuel cooking fires, coal was likely viewed as a gift from the gods. Extracting coal bed methane (CBM) from underground coal seams may not have the same significance to modern man, but this source for natural gas certainly seems like a gift to a world in need of clean energy supplies. Because today’s oil and gas industry recognizes the value of this unconventional resource, CBM exploration and development, once uniquely North American, are now under way on a global scale.

Hiring Again!

2009-12-02T21:57:00.000-08:00

Sorry guys for the late posting...this campaign will be in K.L soon in January 2010..will inform you soon..And it's open to everybody..Malaysian or Non-Malaysian...

Evaluating Volcanic Reservoir

2009-12-02T19:20:00.000-08:00

Hydrocarbons can be found in volcanic rock—sometimes in significant quantities. Petrophysical methods originally developed for sedimentary accumulations are being used to evaluate these unusual reservoirs.

In the early days of petroleum exploration, the discovery of hydrocarbons in anything other than sedimentary rock was largely accidental, and such accumulations were considered flukes. Serendipity is still part of exploration, but geologists now know that the presence of oil and gas in such rock is certainly no coincidence. Igneous rock—created by the solidification of magma—hosts petroleum reservoirs in many major hydro carbon provinces, sometimes predominating them.

In general, igneous rocks have been ignored and even avoided by the E&P industry. They have been ignored because of a perceived lack of reservoir quality. However, there are many ways in which igneous rocks can develop porosity and permeability. Far from inconsequential, igneous activity can influence every aspect of a petroleum system, providing source rock, affecting fluid maturation and creating migration pathways, traps, reservoirs and seals. Igneous rocks have been avoided for other reasons. They tend to be extremely hard, although improvements in bit technology are helping drillers cope with these tough lithologies. Because they typically prevent deep penetration of seismic energy, igneous layers are considered an impediment to evaluation of underlying sediments as well. New seismic methods are advancing solutions to this problem, but with their strong refractive qualities, igneous reservoirs remain difficult to characterize. Once hydrocarbons are found in igneous reservoirs, assessing hydrocarbon volumes and productivity presents several challenges.

Log interpretation in igneous reservoirs often requires adapting techniques designed for other environments. Logging tools and interpretation methods that succeed in sedimentary rock can give meaningful answers in igneous rock, but they often require artful application. Furthermore, because mineralogy varies greatly in these formations, methods that work in one volcanic province may fail in another. Usually, a combination of methods is required.

Press Released

2009-11-19T20:03:00.000-08:00

Technip and Schlumberger Announce Joint Development Agreement

Companies Bring Advanced Flexible Pipe Integrity and Surveillance to Deepwater Operations

PARIS, November 19, 2009 - Technip and Schlumberger announced today the signing of a global cooperation agreement to jointly develop subsea integrity and surveillance solutions for flexible pipes used in deep offshore oil and gas production. The new agreement extends the collaboration between the companies that began in 1998.

The agreement is initially focused on surveillance systems activities for new and challenging flexible pipe applications such as those required in the deepwater pre-salt environment in Brazil. Several key Schlumberger technologies used in subsurface applications have been identified for integration into Technip’s new Ultra Deepwater flexible pipe designs.

Alain Marion, Senior Vice President, Subsea Assets and Technologies, Technip, commented: “By combining Technip’s technical and manufacturing knowledge of flexible pipe with Schlumberger surveillance technology, a new generation of intelligent flexible pipe will be created. The “measurement-enabled” flexible pipe will provide significant value to the industry in safety, reliability, and performance. This new combination enhances Technip’s already extensive portfolio of flexible pipe products, which represent key components for the development of ultra deepwater fields.”

One of the initial integrity solutions that the partners expect to develop and qualify is focused on the use of optical fibres to monitor a variety of parameters characterising pipe behaviour. Andy Hendricks, Vice President, Subsea, Schlumberger, explained: “The extremely robust nature of fibre-optic sensors in deepwater environments, combined with the possibility of using a single interrogation unit for a whole production system, makes this solution both technically and commercially superior.” The new technology combination extends Schlumberger subsea products and services, which already include other surveillance technologies, production flow assurance engineering, and light-vessel well intervention project.

As part of the collaboration, retrofit solutions will also be pursued to address the large number of flexible pipes in operation utilising proven technologies and methodologies applied subsurface, but now tailored to the flexible pipe domain.

New Hiring!

2009-11-19T19:55:00.000-08:00

Various Engineer Position: TANJUNG OFFSHORE SERVICES SDN BHD, MALAYSIA.

E-mail to : jamros@tanjungoffshore.com.my

Urgent needed!

Tanjung Offshore Services Sdn Bhd

www.tanjungoffshore.com.my

8 Jalan Puncak Setiawangsa 4
Taman Setiawangsa, Kuala Lumpur, WP Kuala Lumpur 54200
03-4252-3888

Be Brave People!!!

2009-11-16T01:34:00.000-08:00

All companies claims that they have great rules and ethics. Everybody will follow? Well that's life..Just need to be prepared into some alignment...

http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/01/learn-about-schlumberger-twospread.html

Lesson Learned 3 from Oilfield

2009-11-09T17:55:00.000-08:00

Once in one's human body, there is a discussion among all the parts. The brain said' " I want to be a boss as I'm controlling everything here! You guys just receive any order from me to do works!"

But then the heart angrily confront," No! I'm the boss! Without me, nobody works!". The lung said," I can be the boss too!". The hands and legs also said," We are doing all the jobs, so we are the boss!". So everybody claims that they are the boss of the body. Nobody seems want to give up of being the boss.

Suddenly there is one voice from far away. " I want to be the boss, otherwise all of you will be in deep trouble!". And everybody was shocked to hear that. The voice were came from the part names ASSHOLE! Everybody starts to laugh very loud cynically." Hahahaha! Who the hell you think you are? You are the part which everytime always full of damn smelly shit!You wannabe the boss?NO!," said everybody.

ASSHOLE angrily replies, " O.K fine! I want to quit from my job!". Then ASSHOLE starts to stop its operation. Everybody continues laughing and they still fighting to become a boss.

After some times, the body starts to have a problem and it become worst. All the parts found that it is because of this asshole stops its operations. They just realized how important this asshole's roles.

Finally they have decided that asshole is the boss among them and asshole are very proud to get that honour!

LESSON LEARNED: IF YOU WANT TO BE A BOSS YOU HAVE TO BE AN ASSHOLE AS PEOPLE WILL ALWAYS THINK THAT YOU ARE REALLY ASSHOLE!!

Lesson Learned 2 from Oilfield

2009-11-09T17:26:00.000-08:00

One fine evening there was a bird flew up high on the sky...It had been flew none-stop since a very long hours before. Suddenly it felt very cold,tired and gave up to fly. It felt down on the grass field near to a group of cows.

A cow saw this bird, turned back and shit on this bird. The bird's body were fully covered by a lot of cow's shit. At the beginning the bird felt very pissed-off and it wanted to shit on the cow's back but it could do nothing as it was very weak and cold.

After a few moment, the bird felt very warm because of the shit and it became energetic again. It started to singing happily and make a very loud noise.

Unfortunately there was a cat nearby heard this noise and it suddenly caught this bird and eat it without any mercy!

LESSON LEARNED: PEOPLE WHO GIVES YOU SHIT ARE NOT ALWAYS YOUR ENEMY, AND WHEN YOU ARE IN THE DEEP SHIT, DON'T SCREAM!

Lesson Learned 1 from Oilfield

2009-11-09T16:47:00.000-08:00

Once there are 3 chickens where they were kept in a cage. Chic A, Chic B and Chic C. One day they had a close discussion. Chic A said," If I get any chance, I'll run away from this cage to another bigger cage". Then Chic B said," Owh really? Why? You'll still be in the cage with the same shit! For me I would stay just like everyday. Just do the same thing everyday and waiting as usual to get food and I just feel comfort enough to be here, man...

But Chic C proudly said," Well guys, it's up to you..for me I would like to stay and I'll do my best to to be on the top of this cage, to be the top amongst chickens and I want to stay at the top of this cage as people can see me and know who I am! I don't want to be like you guys! Damn you chickens!!". Finally they had decided to find their destiny by their own.

Everyday chicken C will train itself to fly on the top of the cage. He did everything possible to be on top and get his dream come true. It doesn't care if it has to kill or to give shit to any chickens as long as he could be successfully to the top. After a few years with a lot of trainings and experiences Chicken C managed to climbed on the top of the cage. He's really proud to be there.."I'm the king! I know and I can do everything to be here!

Suddenly an eagle saw this chicken and it flew down to snatch this chicken's life! Chicken C can't do anything to saved his life because all this while he thought nobody could disturb him since he was on the top of the cage.

LESSON LEARNED : IF YOU ARE ON THE TOP, YOU ARE STILL NOT SAFE; YOU MUST BE ON THE TOP OF PEOPLE WHOSE ON YOUR TOP

Oilfield Services Segmentation

2009-10-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

Here is the graphical explanation for those who were keep asking me about the Oilfield Services segmentation. Hope this helps!

HeavyOilinfocus: WHOC 09 Special Edition

2009-10-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

WHOC 09 Special Edition

World Heavy Oil Congress
November 3-5, 2009
Margarita Island, Venezuela

Planning to attend the World Heavy Oil Congress 2009 on Margarita Island? Come and see us at the Schlumberger exhibition booth (1006) and hospitality room.

If you can't make it, don't worry, we've summarized the technical papers we are presenting at the conference below. Just select a paper of interest to learn more.

Technical Paper Summaries

November 3

Session	Session Title	Paper Title	Presenter

3	The Environment	Carbon and Water Technology Help Mitigate Environmental Footprint of Heavy Oil Exploitation	C. Sbiti

November 4

3	Thermal Recovery and Operations I	Comparison of Steam Based Processes for the Orinoco Heavy Oil Belt	J. Ruiz

5	Drilling and Completions II	Improving Productivity and Steam Conformance of SAGD Wells	D. Rudenko

5	Drilling and Completions II	Full-Scale Testing of a New Sand Control Screen for Thermal Well Applications	K. Hamilton¹

6	IOR and Emerging Recovery Techniques I	Modeling CHOPS Using a Coupled Flow-Geomechanics Simulator with Non-Equilibrium Foamy Oil Reactions	J. Rivero

7	Reservoir Characterization I	First Deep Azimuthal Electromagnetic Resistivity and Rotary Steerable System Geonavigation Project Result in Complex Sands for Bare Field in Orinoco Oil Belt, Venezuela	P. Machado²

November 5

11	Thermal Recovery and Operations II	Lindbergh SAGD Pilot Design and Sensitivity Analysis: A Case Study	F. Akram

12	Production and Facilities	Conventional Metering Issues for Thermal In Situ Production of Extra Heavy Oils and Improvement of a Commercial Nucleonic Multiphase Meter for Such Applications	V. Arendo³

15	Thermal Recovery and Operations III	Effects of Induced Inter-Bedded Shale Breakage on SAGD Performance in the Orinoco Belt	J. Bashbush

15	Thermal Recovery and Operations III	An Integrated Framework for SAGD Real-Time Monitoring	C. Damas

16	Production Technology	Extra Heavy Oil Lifting Solved in Venezuela with Multiphase Flow Meter, Non-Thermal Recovery of Heavy Oil	B. Pinguet

¹ C-FER Technologies, co-authored by Schlumberger.
²PDVSA, co-authored by Schlumberger.
³ TOTAL, co-authored by Schlumberger.

Want to know what we are doing at the exhibition?
Our team can provide information on the range of services to help you meet the specific challenges of heavy oil recovery.

Faja Center of Excellence

We have a heavy oil team based at our Faja Center of Excellence in nearby Puerto La Cruz. They engage a range of tools and technologies, including Petrel seismic-to-simulation software and ECLIPSE reservoir simulation software, to build accurate models and simulations for heavy oil projects. With direct links to our network of heavy oil centers around the world, their expertise delivers solutions to help you make the best decisions for your reservoir. Contact us to find out more.

Heavy Oil Technologies

For more information on the Schlumberger services at the exhibition select a link below:

Reservoir and fluid characterization
Quicksilver Probe focused extraction of pure reservoir fluid
Multiphase meters incorporating Vx well testing technology

Well construction
PeriScope bed boundary mapper
FlexSTONE advanced flexible cement technology

Long-term completions
FacsRITE downhole sand screens and MeshRITE stainless steel screens

Production and monitoring
REDA Hotline 550 high-temperature electric submersible pump system
WellWatcher real-time reservoir and production monitoring system, including WellWatcher BriteBlue harsh environment multimode fiber

You and Your Career: Luck Is Only Part of the Equation

2009-10-20T23:17:00.000-07:00

What does it take to have a successful, fulfilling professional career? Effective results are most important, many would say. Others would point to hard work as the key ingredient. Interpersonal skills, a sense of timing and organizational know-how are still other factors. Then there’s luck, which nearly everyone would agree can contribute to the golden career. Good people are with great potential. They succeed because they are good at what they do, and because they possess the capacity to surpass themselves. When good people manage their careers intelligently and communicate well, they take advantage of the many opportunities available within the company—to travel and get to know the world, to work in a variety of different business areas, and to share their time on the job with a uniquely diverse and enriching group of colleagues the world over. Of course, winning what might be called “the career game” necessarily involves playing the game with a certain amount of skill. In addition to making a steady contribution to the business and meeting your objectives, you’ll need to have a sense of how the company works, to persevere in your job, and to learn to seize opportunities and recognize the limits of a given situation.With this issue of you should take an opportunity to test your skill at marrying all of the above factors—hard work, knowledge of the company and Give it a try. The outcome matters less than just having fun.

Evolution of Oil and Gas Supply

2009-10-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

What does it all mean?The world uses today nearly four billion tonnes of oil equiva-lent (TOE) of oil and natural gas liquids and 2.4 billion TOEof natural gas. Oil demand is projected bythe International Energy Agency to increase at an average rate of one percent per year over the nexttwo decades, while natural gas is expected to increase at nearly twice that rate because of thesurge in demand from non-OECDcountries. The share of gas within the overall hydrocarbon supplywill increase. The supply of oil is shifting to the Middle East and areas with deepwater basins andunconventional sources. Gas supply will come principally from Russia, Iran and Qatar for conven-tional gas and from North America for unconventional gas. Technologies such as liqueﬁed naturalgas (LNG) will enable increased commercialization of those natural gas resources once consideredstranded assets. † The 30 OECDcountries include North America, most of Europe, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand

Days off? Vacation? Rotation?

2009-10-19T09:13:00.000-07:00

Some people asked me about the days off/vacation for those people in the oilfield services. Generally this system is applicable to most services company and each of them should understand it as most oilfield worker are jumping from one services company to another. I 'll tell you about the Field Engineer (FE)' (IM) rotation( well mostly FEs will be given field breaks and FSs will get rotation).. it depends on your assigned country, your position, your status, business needs..etc..etc...even some countries has few operation bases but there are a lot of differences in few things for each respective base, except the basic salary which will be the same...here are some cases:

1. Fixed rotation---> some get 6 weeks x 3 weeks, some 6x2..depends

2. Field break----> some get 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 field breaks in a year and plus with 1 month annual vacation. For each field break (+/- 2 weeks), they will pay you USD 400 and USD 2K ++(nice if you have family coz u will get more) for your annual vacation.

3. Annual vacations only---> 1 month annual vacation only.

For the case 2 n 3, you can divide and arrange your allotted vacation accordingly every year. If you didn't take any field break for whatever reason within this year for example, company will automatically burn it but on the other hand your annual vacation still can be carry forward to the next year if it is unused.

But as I said just now, it depends on your assigned country, your position, your status, business needs..etc..etc...even because of the economic turndown, it will ruin your field break or rotation.

To share with all of you one story, happened to my senior, on his first day of vacation when he just landed at KLIA while approaching his family who were waited him for a few months,suddenly one stranger came to him showing something and said," Chief, this is your ticket for you to go back to your location right now as we received an emergency call from your boss for something went wrong in the field". Man...can you guys imagine that? How miserable? So..prepare yourself..mind, body and soul..!

Current Hiring!

2009-10-19T02:22:00.000-07:00

1. Baker Hughes - Jr Petroleum Engineer, TST Engineer

2. Exxon Mobil - Jr Petrophysist, Project Engineer

3. QSERV (new company from UK) - Field Specialists, HR Manager, Admin

4. MaxEnergy - Various position

The best way is to call the recruiter straight away or by hand!

New to Oil&Gas? Oilfield services?

2009-10-19T01:29:00.000-07:00

Hi all!..introducing a blog to share all experiences, skills, technologies, life and money in O&G industry. Some people still really new and might not really understand very well about O&G. Well as for sharing I will contribute some ideas, opinions and views to those who got some misunderstanding, lack of knowledge about this field to be clear in their mind. Hopefully anybody who’s visiting this blog could try to contribute theirs also for our own good.

For the beginners, generally O&G can be divided into Upstream and Downstream. Either one of it should be divided as the picture below. Client (Oil company) is for PETRONAS..Shell..Exxon..BP...bla2..and Services company are such as Schlumberger...Halliburton...BJ..etc..clients they have oil and gas field and how to produce it..they will ask the services company to do it..so client just collecting money from the oil or gas produced instead of doing hell hard work as what services company does..so..people in services company will earn a lot of money instead of people in client company because of the hardship and highly technical skills..so which want do you prefer..ask yourself..each of them got pros n cons...always keep that in mind. In this blog will focus more on upstream as I started my career there. But those who are from the downstream side are welcome to contribute anything here as to share to everybody.

Joining O&G?

To enter this O&G industry you are not necessary to have only engineering degree (some people still got confuse on this), it’s just like any other companies which has supporting department to the operation department such as IT, Finance, Marketing, Supply Chain, HSE, etc..but most of the people who leads in this department especially in Oilfield Services (OFS) are people from the field (field engineers, specialist, etc..).

Below are some example of pros and cons between both working in oil and services company which should subjected to the company’s terms and policies.

For those who wants to join OFS especially in operation department, if you wanna be in top big five service company such as Schlumberger, Halliburton, BJ, Baker, Weatherford its quite hard because they are looking for 3 pointers fresh grads at the beginning to be selected for an interview...even some of my friends got 2.99 still been rejected, well same goes to oil company...the reason is they expected that 3 pointers candidates can be a fast learner while doing the job and won't fail any kind of training school provided..for instance in Schlumberger, even there are some Schlumberger field engineer trainees were terminated during the training because they failed the exam. Don’t worry about kind of engineering background..once u enter O&G environment or others..you will learn from zero actually no matter in which segment they put you in..they just need your engineering aptitude and of course attitude to start everything..but keep in mind.. 3 pointers doesn't mean you could be 100% accepted in top big companies but no worries..you could try and I think most of local services company would consider something with that pointer..but sorry to say that person would be the last to arrived..simple word..last option..my advice..just give the hit..and try your luck.

How’s life? Money?

Talking about life is something I could say very subjective right? Any industry, working condition, working area, one should determine their own life (work-life balanced) whether goes bad or vice versa. It’s hard to physically judge by the nature of work as people’s life couldn’t be noted into numerical statistics I guess. Those who work in oil company their life would be much easier, safe and clean environment compare to services where risks are everywhere, harsh, dirty and oily condition where small mistake could ruins everything when comes to multiple catastrophic situation. Safety is the greatest priority. If you think it’s not safe, STOP the work! One simple rule of thumb; once, my senior told me on the first day I’m on the offshore platform,”Don’t put your hand where you don’t want to put your dick to”.

Money? Well this is my less favorite question when people ask me about the salary. Well, no pain, no gain right? As you put your ass in this field, simple rules; high risk high pay, hell hard work high pay (but sometimes not). Bear in mind, not only O&G could help you become rich people…a lot of chances out there to be rich dude!

Current situation

Just some info for the current situation in O&G due to economic downturn recently where some companies already and may reduce their manpower as the business seem kind of slow in certain areas. Services company some of them really reduce their employee and some more likely to just keep their employees but freeze the hiring temporarily (goes to top big five companies).

From some trusted source, Shell and Petronas will start laying off their people so soon. What a big surprise for big oil company I guess!