Natural Gas Course 2009

I feel very honored and grateful for having the opportunity to attend the Natural Gas Course. It was merely a fortune for me that i could attend the course. Thank you to my Manager for nominated me to replace him for the course. Else, i would not have benefited so much from the entire course.

Natural Gas Course is an event organized by MLNG annually, which will be chaired by our Consultants from the West, Potens and Partners. This course basically gives an entire overview on the Gas Business, what is NG, how is it extracted from the platform, how is it channeled to processing plants, the surface overview of the liquefaction processes, and lastly, how it is shipped to our customers.

Along the way, we have been explained of the current market situation of the Gas Business, and speculations made for the next 5-10 years. It is believed that the emergence of Qatar Gas has actually brought a huge leap to Gas Industry, and likewise.

Apart from that, they have also explained the procedures in acquiring/ securing a contract with our reputable buyers, mainly from Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Not to forget, China and India as well. To further enhance our understanding in the contract securing process, they have come out with a super-duper-extravaganza-hilarious-fun-syndicate-game, which is actually a case study to all of us.

If i could still recall it accurately. All of us are divided into 7 groups, and each group are further divided into 3 sub groups, which consists of the supplier, the processor, and the buyer.

Country - Xenrovia
XNOC - Supplier of the Natural Gas
Pan Oil & Gas - Plant owner for Gas Processing (Buy NG from XNOC, Sell LNG to ZGas)
ZGas - Buyer for the Liquefied Natural Gas

It is more or less similar to our Malaysia PETRONAS gas supply chain.

Country - Malaysia
Carigali - Supplier of NG
MLNG - Gas Processing Plant
Japan - Buyer

I feel very proud to say that i was grouped under Team 4, and my role was as a negotiator for ZGas in order to secure a deal with Pan Oil & Gas. The activity was carried out in a near-real-time activity. Updates were issued to all of the participants randomly. Some of the informations are confidential, some are just news regarding the industry. A lot of considerations that has to be made before going for a negotiation with our counterpart. Proudly, under the Leadership of Mr. Osamu Iwamoto, we successfully completed the activity, at the shortest time, with the best project economics analysis & evaluation, securing a Bank Loan from the Bankers, and emerged as the WINNER for the Syndicate Activity. It was such a proud moment to stand in front of all of the other people, as the Winner of the game.

From my point of view, i think everyone was the winner. Why? Because everyone has spent all of their time and effort in preparing for the syndicate activity. Some of them even worked till midnight just to come out with the right price and conditions for negotiation purposes. Their spirit is very much impressed and appreciated. However, our group is always the last to start, first to have tea break/ lunch/ leave the meeting room. Perhaps we have reached agreement among each other easily. I heard some of the participants acted seriously, as if the whole thing is a real deal. So, that would be a challenge for their team mates i suppose.

Enough of the activity. Let's get into the Food and Beverages. I have to admit that this is my first time in life to witness such grand dinner served that night. I was so impressed by the settings, the variety of food choices, the level of the taste...One word. Speechless. It was beyond too delicious. First thing i noticed was, there was this fake tree outside of the ball room, with all kinds of fruits hanging on it. Not to exaggerate, but, i saw 3 durians on that tree as well. My God!
They even hung cempedak, rambutan, grapes, mata kucing, ... ... ... ... ... on that particular tree. The most interesting part is that, you can just pluck it and eat. Cool eh? Most occasion it is meant for decoration. This event is to create the ambient and atmosphere for the foreigners to experience Asia Living Style.

The tea break settings are awesome too. There was one particular setting which embarked into my mind permanently. They had this Halloween Theme during one of the tea break. All of the waitress and waitress were wearing their contumes (which i can only recognize some of it - dracula). There was a coffin on the table as well, with a fake mummy inside it. Next to it was this nicely carved pineapple with a light within it (I guess they are replacing pumpkin with that). Creative work there. Thumb Up!! And what's next? The lighting were simply splendid. Exactly created the anxious yet scary environment. There was this Korean guy who did not even dare to step foot into the Ball Room. He was sitting outside, asking some of his friends to take some food for him. Hurm..If i were to rate the Halloween theme, i would give 9/10!!!

That's not all about the program. During the last day, we had a plant trip to MLNG. Certainly, it was not much of a program for me since i am in the plant everyday. But, it was an eye-opener for the buyers from the East. They used to see ships unloading the LNG to their gas proccessing plant, but they have never seen how it is processed. This trip is the most awaited program in the entire course - according to a few japanese ladies which i managed to engage a conversation with.

On that afternoon, we had a trip to Iban Longhouse. To be frank, the longhouse was like an oven, frying all of us underneath it. OMG! People who know me well do know i sweat a lot. I was all wet until there was this guy asked me this, "Was it raining outside?". Oh well, i am athletic i suppose. :)

On the way to the Iban Longhouse, i was talking to this Manager from Tokyo Gas. We have shared a lot of information, not limited to only work related issues, but also into personal views and opinions on certain issues. I was impressed by her English. She could speak fluent English..and, on the way back, we continued sharing our thoughts. Finally, she came out with a Pen, a souvenir from Japan. I believe all of you must be wondering, "what's so special about a pen? I can have it anywhere i want!". Well, you are wrong. This pen is special. As usual, it has four colours on each angle - Red, Blue, Black, Green. But, the one extra which we seldom see is, it is integrated with Pencil & Eraser as well. COOL!!!!

Speaking of souvenir, i did receive another souvenir from Mr. Iwamoto. He gave me a Japan Prawn Cracker which he personally brought from Nagoya. I have not opened it yet though, due to its nice paper wrapping. :)

However, there's a downside of the whole program. MY BAG WAS SWAPPED!!!
Just imagine, my valuables, my car keys, my personal identification items..all are inside. It took me roughly 2 hours to trace my bag back. Well, in between the processes, many parties involved, and i have gone up and down the lift for many many times. I have even bothered a "bathing" guy to get out of his tub, rushed to his bag, just to check whether that bag is mine. Sorry Dude, for disturbing your personal moment. Anyway, i just want to express my gratitude to whoever have helped me in my Bag Hunting journey.

Oh well, it was ended in a usual manner - sadness. But, i will visit Tokyo & Nagoya someday. Not to forget, Jung-Jai, i will visit you in Seoul!! Remember our deal yeah!! I pay the ticket, you take care of everything after that! haha..
p/s: This guy looks like a korean film star. No Joke! Serious Shit!