Careers @ S ngapore Oil & Gas The oil and gas industry is a key pillar oSingapore’s economy, accounting or 5% othe country’s GDP. In 2009, this industry contributed S$57 billion (US$43 .4 billion) to Singapore’s total manuacturing output. As global appetites or rened goods grow unabated and urban populations expand, global energy demand will continue to rise. Singapore has geared up the industry’s rening and storage capacity and deepened its expertise in alternative energies with a ocused eye on capturing emerging markets. In the long-term, the strategy or oil and gas involves capitalsing on the strengths omultiple, related sectors that orm the thriving energy eco-system in Singapore. Oil rening is the cornerstone othis strategic vision and Singapore has attracted multi-billion dollar xed capital investments by major oil companies who are building technologically advanced reneries. Such improved rening activities have been a boost, as well as a catalyst, or Singapore’s Singapore’s vision or this industry
The oil and gas industry is a key pillaro Singapore’s economy, accounting
or 5% o the country’s GDP. In 2009,this industry contributed S$57 billion(US$43 .4 b ill ion) to Si nga pore’s totalmanu acturing output.
As global appetites or re ned goodsgrow unabated and urban populationsexpand, global energy demand willcontinue to rise. Singapore has gearedup the industry’s re ning and storagecapacity and deepened its expertise inalternative energies with a ocused eye
on capturing emerging markets. In thelong-term, the strategy or oil and gasinvolves capitalsing on the strengths omultiple, related sectors that orm thethriving energy eco-system in Singapore.
Oil re ning is the cornerstone o thisstrategic vision and Singapore hasattracted multi-billion dollar xed capitalinvestments by major oil companieswho are building technologicallyadvanced re neries. Such improvedre ning activities have been a boost,as well as a catalyst, or Singapore’s
Energy & ChemicalsSingapore is one o the world’s topthree export re ning centres and theworld’s third largest oil and oil productstrading hub, making it the undisputed oilhub in Asia. Central to the oil industry’sphenomenal success is Singapore’sunique ‘plug and play’ in rastructureand complete supply chain integration.By simultaneously growing capacity
and improving trading services andlogistics, Singapore o ers oil andpetrochemical majors the fexibility tocontrol export volumes which is crucialto price discovery.
S ingapore u r the r op t imises i t sre nery assets through integration tocrackers, where valuable eedstockmolecules are produced rom thenaptha rom re neries to eed a thrivingpetrochemicals industry.
The centre o oil and gas activities isJurong Island – home to more than 95leading oil and gas, petrochemicalsand specialty chemicals companies
rom around the world. Recent multi-billion dollar investments have also
put in place some o the world’s mosttechnologically advanced re ineryin rastructure and petrochemical plantsin Singapore.
Besides manu acturing, Singapore isalso the choice location or energy andchemicals companies’ headquarters
Who are the leading players here?Shell (The Netherlands) was the rst tobuild a re nery in Singapore in 1961,and this has grown into the company’slargest re nery operation. Shell alsooperates the massive Shell EasternPetrochemicals Complex, its largestpetrochemicals investment, whichproduces basic petrochemicals likeethylene and mono-ethylene glycol.
ExxonMobil (US) is adding a secondworld-scale petrochemical acilityin Singapore, greatly expanding thecapabilities o its original integratedre nery and petrochemical acility. This
new addition will make it ExxonMobil’slargest integrated chemical andre ning site.
Lanxess (Germany) , the world’s largestmanu acturer o synthetic rubber isbuilding a butyl rubber plant andwell as the world’s largest neodymiumpolybutadiene (Nd-PBR) plant in
Singapore, representing the company’stwo largest investments globally. Inorder to address the growing Asianmarket, Lanxess has also relocatedits Global Headquarters or the butylrubber business unit to Singapore.
and R&D activities. The sa e businessenvironment, availability o excellentmanpower as well as presence o leadingresearch institutes and universities haveattracted multi-national companies
rom the oil majors to petrochemicalsand specialties to set up their presencehere.
progressive logistics industry, whichhas greatly increased oil and gas andpetrochemicals storage capacity inrecent years.
The presence o major oil and gascompanies has also spawned a market
or the world’s leading oil eld servicesand equipment companies who provideregional support rom Singapore.
The oil industry enjoys urthercompetitiveness rom the volume oadvantaged eedstock it generates orthe petrochemical industry. And, thissector is itsel ocusing on the discoveryo specialty chemicals with excellentprospects or advancing Singapore’s new
growth industries, particularly advancedelectronics and clean technology.
The oil and gas industry is urtheraugmented by a strong, innovation-led engineering sector as well as a
ormidable and well-established marineand o shore engineering sector – thewealth o experience and knowledge
rom these industries will help uel growthin the o shore sector or years to come.
To secure the global competitivenesso Singapore’s oil and gas industry the
ocus is now on optimising the synergiesbetween the industry’s our main sectors:energy & chemicals, oil eld equipment &services, marine & o shore engineering,and process management & logistics.
Schlumberger (France) is a leadingoil eld services company that has anintegrated manu acturing acility inSingapore. The company specialises
in oil and gas industry technology,in ormation solutions and integratedproject management.
Halliburton (US) has set up an advancedmanu acturing and technology centrein Singapore to produce sophisticatedoil and gas tools made up o bothhigh-per ormance mechanical andelectronic systems.
Baker Hughes (US) is a top-tier oil eldservices company that has invested
aggressively in new in rastructure
As the global energy market becomesever more diverse and complex,Singapore’s oil and petrochemicalindustry has been buoyed by an infuxo leading energy companies, theimplementation o technologicallyadvanced re nery in rastructure andan unprecedented speed o changeand discovery.
The stable, pro-business environmentand central location has also made
Singapore has long had a thrivingmarine and o shore engineeringindustry ounded on its trading historyand strategic position along globalshipping lines. It is a leading centre
or o shore activities, with a dominantglobal market share o rig building andFloating Production Storage O foading
(FPSO) vessel conversion.
Con dence in Singapore’s high level oexpertise in shipyard operations, vesseldesign and engineering and marineequipment and services, combined
with an unprecedented growth indemand rom the o shore industry,have spurred an infow o private xedcapital investments in in rastructureand capabilities. To promote innovationand entrench the o shore sector, theSingapore government has set up well-equipped research and development
in rastructure such as the MaritimeResearch Centre, Centre or O shoreResearch and Engineering and Centreo Innovation – Marine and O shoreTechnology.
J u r o n g A r om a t i c s C o r p o r a t i on (Singapore) is on track to build a S$2.4billion new plant on Jurong Islandthat will produce 1.5 million tons oaromatics per year as well as 2.5 milliontons o uel.
BASF SE (Germany) established its R&DLab or Nanostructured Sur aces in 2006– the company’s rst research acility in
Asia or nanotechnology – and urtherexpanded its research capabilitiesto include the R&D Lab or OrganicElectronics and Organic Photovoltaics.In 2008, these labs were integratedas the BASF Global Research CenterSingapore, with research capabilities inkey growth clusters like nanotechnologyand energy management.
Singapore the choice regionalheadquarter base or many oil andgas companies, where key decisionsa ecting regional exploration andproduction are made.
T h e s e d e v e l o p m e n t s p r e s e n tunprecedented new opportunities
or the world’s largest oil eld servicesproviders including Schlumberger,H a l l i b u r t o n , B a k e r H ug h e s a n dWeather ord.
throughout Southeast Asia, and o ersdrilling and evaluation as well ascompletions and production servicesin Singapore.
Aibel (Norway) is expanding itspresence in Singapore and o ers a ullrange o engineering services or the oil,gas and renewable energy industry orboth onshore and o shore projects.
FMC Technologies (US) is a leadingglobal specialist in technology solutions
or the energy industry. The companyhas established sophisticated plantand testing acilities in Singapore togrow its presence in Asia.
Keppel Offshore & Marine (Singapore) is a global leader in o shore rigdesign, construction and repair,ship repair and conversion, andspecialised shipbuilding. In additionto its engineering groups or marine,o shore and deepwater, the company
established a corporate R&D centre(Keppel O shore & Marine TechnologyCentre) in 2007 to urther upstreamresearch to boost its design andengineering capabilities.
Vopak (The Netherlands) has ourpetroleum and chemical terminals inSingapore, and provides tank storage,regional distribution and other value-added bulk liquid logistics services.It has a regional headquarters inSingapore, one o our globally,to manage i ts vast operat ionsthroughout Asia.
Wo r l e y P a r s o n s ( A u s t r a l i a ) hasestablished its regional headquartersand engineering centre in Singaporeto manage its growing power, industrial,
SembCorp Marine (Singapore) , aworld leader in marine and o shoreengineering and construction, alsoestablished a corporate R&D centrein 2007 or product development andprocess innovation. The company isbuilding a state-o -the-art, 206-hectare
custom-designed integrated yardacility incorporating the latest
production technology and processes.The new yard is a major milestone inSembCorp Marine’s growth strategyand will enable it to serve as acentralised one-stop shop or a widerange o maritime activities and vessels.
Rolls-Royce Marine (UK) , a globalpower systems company, has recentlyrelocated its global headquarters
or its marine business to Singapore.
Its operations in Singapore’s marineindustry spans more than threedecades and includes a ship designteam and a repair and overhaulservice centre.
Process Management and LogisticsSingapore is consistently rated as theworld’s easiest place to do business(World Bank 2010) , o er ing an
ideal environment or multinationalheadquarter operations, globalsourcing and complex manu acturing.This success hinges on its world-classlogistics in rastructure, comprisingworld-class seaports and air reight
acilities, superior warehousing anddelivery channels, and unparalleledconnectivity, regionally and globally.
According to the World Bank 2010report, Singapore is the world’s No.2 logistics hub. As many as 17
o today’s top 25 global third-party
logistics providers have establishedregional headquarters or regional huboperations here. Leading companies
like DHL and TNT have set up centres oexcellence to develop solutions uniqueto Asia, and Singapore is also hometo The Logistics Institute – Asia Paci c,Asia’s leading logistics think tank.
T h e h i g h l y c o m p e t i t i v e a n dsophisticated process managementand logistics industry is well placed todevelop and deliver innovative logisticsand supply chain managementsolutions that address the needs othe oil and gas, marine and o shore
engineering and chemicals sectors.
and natural resources businesses inAsia and the Middle East, as well asprovide ront-end engineering solutionsto its clients.
Emerson Process Management (USA)has located both its international
procurement o ce and globaldistribution centre or control systems inSingapore, placing the company closerto global suppliers and enabling it tobetter support its Asia-Paci c supplybase with speed and fexibility.
Wärtsilä (Finland) has had a presencein Singapore since 1982 and today hasmore than 800 service pro essionalswho serve customers in the marineand power plant sectors. In additionto two workshops or the servicing omarine engines o all makes, and one
workshop that builds switchboardsor control panels or the marine,
o shore and landbased industries, thecompany also has a whar o 110 m,a global logistics centre, and a navalarchitecture and ship design acility.
EMAS (Singapore) has recently addeda seabed-to-sur ace engineeringand construction division to boost itscomprehensive range o integratedo shore oil and gas capabilities o eredby its Energy, Marine and Production
Where do you ft into the picture?As the global energy market becomesincreasingly complex, Singaporehas been steadily keeping pacewith capacity and technologicaldevelopments, and boasts thecompetitive advantages to secure itsleading global position among the top10 petrochemicals hubs in the world.
Singapore is Asia’s oil products tradinghub and price discovery centre, with oilmajors like BP, Chevron, Shell and Total,as well as international trading housessuch as Glencore and Unipec, amongthe many industry leading oil tradersthat are based here.
Global energy companies haveexpressed their con dence by makingsigni cant investments in in rastructure,as well as by establishing advancedresearch centres and headquarteroperations. This means that Singaporeis the base where many key decisionsa ecting the development o theregional oil and gas industry are made. T h e S i n g a p o r e g o v e r n m e n t ’ sapproach to developing the industryhas been progressive. It actively
promotes research and developmentcollaboration between the privatesector and its educational institutions,through initiatives like the Centre orO shore Research & Engineering andCentre o Innovation – Marine andO shore Technology. The Institute oChemical Engineering and Scienceson Jurong Island is another highpro le centre that is spearheadingkey research to develop advancedmaterials and high value specialtychemicals.
Singapore stands ready to adoptinnovative solutions. For example, it willgreatly multiply its storage capacity withthe impending completion o Phase 1o the Jurong Rock Cavern – a massiveunderground acility or the storage ocrude oil, condensates and naphtha.
Sustainable development is anotherarea o importance or the industry.One area o early success has beenin process optimisation and catalystdevelopment to maximise the useo capital-intensive re nery assets.Research within the industry continuesto accelerate the development o newsustainable eedstock and technologies,while industry wide measures help
raise energy e ciency and encourageemission management.
Growth in this industry promises to
be multi- aceted, and hinges on theapplication o exciting and cutting-edge technologies. Singapore is keento develop a pool o skilled oil andgas industry pro essionals who cansupport these developments and takethe industry to the next level. Alreadythe industry’s major players are looking
or top o shore and onshore talent to llsome o these positions:• Electrical, Mechanical and Civil
Engineers• HSE Specialists• Instrumentation and Machinery
Engineers• Naval Architects• Piping and Design Engineers• Process Engineers
There is no better time to be inSingapore than now. The city-state isgrowing economically, with a constantbustle o activity. Situated at the heart othe world’s astest growing economies,Singapore is a bridge between the Eastand West, burgeoning with diversity andopportunities. Couple these actors withthe city’s superb physical in rastructure,sophisticated IT network, great varietyo living, dining and entertainmentoptions, and you have one o the mostliveable cities around.
About Contact SingaporeContact Singapore is an alliance o theSingapore Economic Development Board andMinistry o Manpower. It aims to attract overseasSingaporeans and global talent to work, investand live in Singapore.
With o ices in Asia Paci ic, Europe and NorthAmerica, Contact Singapore is the one-stop centre or those who wish to pursue a
rewarding career in Singapore, as well asindividuals and entrepreneurs who are keento invest in or initiate new business activitieshere . Contac t S ingapore ac t ive ly l inksSingapore-based employers with talent andprovides updates on career opportunities andindustry developments in Singapore. ContactSingapore works with public and private sectorpartners to acilitate the interests o potentialindividual investors in Singapore.
For more in ormation on working, investingand living in Singapore, please visit www.
contactsingapore.sg
To fnd out more about the career opportunitiesin Singapore, visit www.contactsingapore.sg/jobs
