Petronas Will Continue To Fund In-House Research & Development

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 15 (Bernama) -- National oil and gas company Petronas will continue to provide consistent funding for in-house research and development regardless of the external business environment, says President and Chief Executive Officer Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin. He said this was to ensure its technology development teams would be given the space and resources to make new discoveries. "We need to have people who are excited by change, who want to make a difference and express themselves creatively. "If we want to nurture pioneering technology, we must ensure that the brains who are going to develop that technology for us are well-equipped and adequately resourced," he said at the World Engineering, Science & Technology Congress 2016 here Monday. Wan Zulkiflee said Petronas' participation in the Global Science and Innovation Advisory, a unique forum of international and Malaysian experts and leaders, represented the industry's role in sustainable national development. "Through this network, we gain valuable insights from all levels and in all sectors while enhancing international alliance," he said. Wan Zulkiflee also said the arrival of disruptive technologies have revolutionised the oil and gas industry and have enabled producers to tap previously inaccessible sources of oil and natural gas. "In mid-2014, world oil prices took a radical plunge, sending oil and gas majors into a tailspin where hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost globally. "Today, even during low oil prices, disruptive technologies continue to develop where technological advancement in the shale business continue to break barriers to sustain an even lower cost," he said. In responding to the current downturn, Wan Zulkiflee said Petronas has embarked on an internal transformation project, which identified, among others, 'Technology as a Differentiator' to address longer-term sustainability concerns even as it addressed the current disruption. "Previous industrial revolutions liberated us, made mass production possible and brought digital capabilities to billions of people. Now the fourth industrial revolution is a range of new technologies, fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds. "The speed, breadth and depth of this revolution is forcing us to rethink how countries develop and how organisations create value," he said, adding that ASEAN was experiencing rapid changes and Malaysia too was not spared from this wave of transformation. Citing the recent Global Competitiveness Index Report, Wan Zulkiflee said Malaysia ranked 17th globally in the 'innovation pillar' for two consecutive years while in the 'technological pillar' the country jumped to 47th position this year from 60th, previously. -- BERNAMA