Ramunia looks at upstream operations to expand revenue
The Star
30 April 2007

ONSHORE fabrication is the bread and butter of Ramunia Holdings Bhd but the company is venturing into other components of the upstream value chain to expand its revenue stream. 

The most valuable Petronas licence the company has is called the major fabricator licence, which allows it, along with the other licence holders, to conduct onshore fabrication for majors such as Petronas Carigali, ExxonMobil or whoever operating out of Malaysia. 

In the value chain, Ramunia also conducts hook up and commissioning for offshore work. The structures are done onshore at the fabrication yard and it is shipped to the location. 

Apart from its current operations, Ramunia director of finance Mohamad Reezal Siddiq said the company was eyeing decommissioning of offshore structures that must be taken apart instead of being abandoned. 

“In Malaysia, some of the platforms are coming to the end of their useful life. So, we expect this business to start coming in over the next three to five years,'' he said. 

“This could be a very substantial future business. We know how to fabricate and put it together, so we know how to break it apart.'' 

Ramunia also sees potential from its deal with Singapore-based Mackra Pte Ltd for the proposed construction of a tubular rolling facility in Malaysia costing US$15mil. 

Signed recently, the venture would see Ramunia taking a 70% stake but with Mackra's technical know-how. 

“The rolled plates are used in fabrication. Currently, all the steel plates are rolled in Batam, Indonesia; Thailand or South Korea.  

“This would essentially be the first such service to be established here. It is not only for Ramunia but also for other players,'' Mohamad Reezal said. 

Lastly, Ramunia is also looking towards getting into deepwater projects in other countries in Asia. 

“Apart from Malaysia, Indonesia is also going deepwater. They are awarding exploration blocks and Vietnam will follow suit. So will Thailand and India,'' said Mohamad Reezal. 

Apart from Malaysia, there are only four other places with deepwater production – the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico and West Africa. 

He said the move into deepwater would give Ramunia the experience to capitalise on future deepwater blocks offered by Indonesia and other countries in the region.