07 July 2007

Asia Petroleum Hub commencement of works ceremony

As promised in my previous post, here are some exclusive pictures from the commencement of works ceremony.



What you won't read in the newspapers. Apparently there was a bit of drama on the day of the ceremony (5th July). In the morning at about 9.30 am a strong storm started and blew off some of smaller tents that had been put up on the island. The generator went off and everything was in big mess. However the storm suddenly let up around 11 am and everything went off as planned.





Haji Abdul Rashid Mohd Isa Al-Qadiry, the Executive Chairman of APH




Prime Minister of Malaysia YAB Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmah Badawi















The official press release:

Asia Petroleum Hub Set to Place Malaysia in the Global Petroleum Trading Market

Pulau Petroliam Johor, Thursday, 5th July 2007 - The highly anticipated Asia Petroleum Hub (APH) project was officially named today with the honorable Prime Minister of Malaysia YAB Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmah Badawi performing the commencement of works ceremony witnessed by Johor Menteri Besar YAB Dato’ Haji Abdul Ghani Othman , Minister of Transport YB Dato Seri Chan Kong Choy and other luminaries.

This RM1.4 billion project sited on a 100-acre (approx. 40 ha) reclaimed island near Tanjung Pelepas is being developed by homegrown KIC Oil & Gas (KIC), which holds a 90% stake and the remaining 10% is held by Trek Perintis Sdn. Bhd., a government-approved strategic financial investor. KIC is the largest independent terminal operator as well as a major bunker player in Malaysia.

APH, targeted for completion in 2009, will be an integrated facility with multiple jetties capable of handling all sizes of vessels from 1,000 dead weight tonnes (DWT) coastal tankers to 350,000 DWT Ultra Large Crude Carriers as well as accommodate over 3,000 vessels calling at the terminal annually. The terminal is designed to handle over 30 million tons of petroleum products and is expected to achieve a turnover exceeding RM200 million annually.

In the first 5 years, in is anticipated that the value created from APH will be RM1.1 billion from storage revenues alone. In addition, the value of oil stored will be in excess of RM100 billion and the value of physical and paper trading generated from the Hub will be over RM1 trillion.

The Hub is essential in meeting the demands for petroleum storage and blending requirements which presently relies on foreign facilities. It provides the much needed option for additional strategic storage of petroleum products on Malaysian soil.

The IDR will receive a massive boost from the project. The Hub will be a natural pillar of the Logistics sector and the IDR will reap various benefits from the spin-off effects of the Hub. This will help ensure the IDR not only takes off on a firm footing but grows from strength to strength.

Tuan Haji Abdul Rashid Mohd Isa Al-Qadiry, the Executive Chairman of APH said, “The Hub will not only put Malaysia at the heart of the global petroleum market and contribute significantly to the country’s GDP but will help to spur the economic growth of the State of Johor as it provides a spectrum of socio-economic benefits through the increase of business activities that will bring about job creation and improved infrastructure”.

He added, “One of APH’s mission is to reduce the cost of landed petroleum products in Malaysia by eliminating double-handling charges as shipments will be made directly from source to the Hub.

The entire cost of this project is undertaken by APH and funded via equity and project financing provided by a local bank.

As part of its CSR initiatives, APH is firm in its support of the Environmental Protection Zone which houses the mangrove conservation area.

APH will be managed by KIC Oil Terminals Sdn Bhd. which also manages KIC’s oil terminals in Port Tanjung Pelepas and West Port. Once completed APH is poised to complement Singapore, currently the world’s largest trans-shipment for petroleum products.

The project team comprises of ZAQ Construction Sdn Bhd who is the managing contractor entrusted with the completion of the project, Mott MacDonald Ltd, Nam Fatt Corporation Bhd., Kencana Petroleum Bhd., Muhibbah Engineering Bhd., and Qi-PMC Sdn Bhd.

About The KIC Group

KIC Group of Companies is currently the largest independent terminal operator in Malaysia with a total storage and production capacity of 522,000 cbm. Through their Floating Oil Processing Terminal, Kadriah I, which is anchored just outside Port Tanjung Pelepas and another land based terminal based in West Port, Port Klang, KIC currently caters to the bunker needs of the country’s two busiest ports. In the last three years KIC has handled 19 million metric tones (MT) of cargo and has successfully turned around the utilization of storage facilities at Westport from 300,000 MT to 3 million MT, transforming it from a domestic petroleum depot to an international petroleum terminal.

The company was founded by Tuan Haji Abdul Rashid Mohd Isa Al-Qadiry and Faidzan Hassan Al-Qadiry, who are also the major shareholders.

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Mrs. Rugged reviewed

Just went through Mandi's (aka Mrs. Rugged) personal blog - 'The Official Mrs. Rugged'.

Nice template and I like the fact that her blog is not cluttered with ads. However, the font might be a bit too small for some people with bad eyesight Of course all I had to do was hit Ctrl+ to enlarge the font on my browser.

I am not sure why, but she has 3 different blog rolls on the side bar. Might be better to consolidate them into one. Couldn't find a link to my blog though. hint! hint! It might also be a good idea to provide a link to the home page from individual posts.

Mandi is also part of the "I follow movement", so go on over to her blog and leave your comments.

06 July 2007

World’s largest petroleum terminal

Some of you may recall that I had blogged about "Malaysia as South East Asian oil hub" a few months back.

Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi today launched the groundbreaking ceremony of the Asia Petroleum Hub (APH). This 1.0 million cubic-meter storage terminal would be located on a 40 ha man-made island, in Tanjung Bin, Pontian, Johor.

The Government of Malaysia has invested RM100mil in the RM1.4bil terminal.

Scheduled to be completed in 2009, APH is being developed by a consortium led by the KIC Group of companies. It would be able to handle 30 million tonnes of petroleum products and accommodate 3,000 vessels annually when completed.

Come back for some exclusive pictures.

05 July 2007

Dreaming of the Caribbean

I didn't have much knowledge about the Caribbean before. My sister's mother-in-law bought a holiday home over there and was telling me of the wonderful sunny beaches there. This led me to do some research and I was amazed to learn that the there are some 7,000 islands, islets, reefs, and cays in the area.

There is also more to the place than just bright sun and white sandy beaches. There are more than thirty major islands to choose from in the Caribbean. Each with it's unique culture and attraction. They have something for everyone. As for me, when people used to mention the Caribbean, the first thought that comes to mind is always reggae music and the place where it was born - Jamaica. Though I mostly prefer rock ballads, I love reggae music too and have always wanted to visit the place Bob Marley was born. Jamaica is also the home of several other different musical genres such as ska, dancehall and ragga among others. Would definitely love to visit Jamaica and experience the musical culture there.

Another place I would love to visit in the area has to be Aruba, which has a totally different history and culture than the other islands. Even the vegetation is totally different with desert landscapes as compared to other tropical Islands int he area. What attracted me was the Island's slogan of "One Happy Island."

04 July 2007

Alan Johnston released

Put on the TV this morning to hear some wonderful news. BBC correspondent Alan Johnston has finally been released after being held in captivity in the Gaza strip for 114 days.

It is ironic but the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas was key in securing his release. 45 years old Johnston was the only remaining Western journalist in the Gaza strip and he was abducted on 12 March by the Army of Islam a militant group there.

Hamas took control in Gaza by force last month and they slowly closed down on the group. There was relief that Alan was released without any military action and he was unharmed.

I am happy that I can finally take down the button on my side bar calling for his release.

Alan Johnston banner

Related links:
- Johnston free after 'appalling' ordeal
- Hamas role in Johnston's release

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Lost in Thailand

Finally got to review Matt's blog "The Lost Boy". Matt is a "farang", a British expat currently working as the desk editor for a local newspaper in Phuket, Thailand. His blog is really cool and the first thing you will notice is of course the great banner.

I really like reading his humorous posts. Nearly fell off my chair when I read this post: Cooped up Paris will lead chickens to salvation. He has got a nice writing style and it's no wonder as he's been writing for various magazines and newspapers for quite sometime now.

Matt wanted some constructive criticism to make his blog better. However, I couldn't find anything to criticise maybe except for only one thing - I would have loved to see more pictures.

One list I would like to see, not only on his blog but on others' too, is a list of the most popular posts.

Check out Matt's blog to get the latest on everything Thai.

03 July 2007

Booking Indian hotels online

The last time I ever visited India was in 2005 for a conference in Delhi. My wife was there with me and we wanted to mix pleasure with work, so we planned our itinerary in such a way that we would be able to do some sightseeing - including a visit to the famous Taj Mahal. A visit to North India won't be complete without a visit to this romantic tourist destination.

The problem we faced was trying to find an affordable accommodation. You should be aware that Indian hotels often have separate charges for Indians (paying in rupees) and foreigners (paying in US $). The difference can be several times higher.

We were interested in the Bed and Breakfast type hotels so that we had more money to spend on shopping. Searching on the net for a suitable hotel near the conference venue proved to be a formidable task and we finally gave in an choose the 5 star (and costlier) hotel suggested by the organisers. It was not that near either and was somewhere in the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of Delhi. Later learnt that there were several much cheaper yet comparable (if not better) hotels in the area. However, most of them don't have a website and you can't deal with them directly.

Anyway, if you want to book Indian hotels, Inasra.com is an excellent site. This online hotel booking site had 35000 listed Hotel Rooms all over India (when I last checked). The company is based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and was set up in August 2005.

The home page is very neat uncluttered unlike other hotel directories I have visited. It seems like every body is going for the Google look now. Not that I am complaining. However, don't let the simple looking interface fool you as this site is clearly high tech as I found out.

Searching for a hotel starts by choosing an Indian city and the the duration you are planning to say there (from and to). They will then give you a list of hotels which you can then filter by ticking a number of choices such as, whether they have a doctor on call, the star of the hotel, food preference and so on. Unlike other Indian hotel directories I have visited, they do list hotels not affiliated with them. However, we have to make the bookings ourselves. That's great.

I have a good knowledge of India and noticed that a few cities I have been to were missing. Maybe I guess these places are a bit of the beaten track. This site is clearly targeted at foreigners as all the prices are listed in US $. They might be cheaper for Indians. A currency exchange calculator would have been a welcome addition so that people in countries other than the US could find out the rates in their own currency. It would be nice to have a link from the hotel names to the details page.

Other than these minor details, this is a really useful and informative site and I would definitely visit it again when I pay a visit to India again.

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