True story ..... I guess in Petronas if you want to go high then you really need to know how far in you're wiling to stab somebody in the back. How the hell can my boss get a rating of 1 when everybody else under him gets a 3?

You really need to have thick skin and really be willing to be cut-throat to go up the career ladder. Some people are made of doing all that ... I'm not one of them.

I am 50% deaf in one ear. I cannot hear well if there is ambient noise but Petronas are reasonable, if you are not going to be sent in a place where there will be background noise, then you're okay. I had this condition since I was 8 maybe. No problem with Petronas and no problem with my current company.

Same thing with color blind test. If Petronas does not require you to work offshore and if you will mostly be based in the office, then it should be okay (see the word should, no guarantees or anything). Unless the HR are idiots which the Petronas HR are well known for .... okay, off tangent a little bit.

Hope you get the job in Petronas. Petronas requires a lot of geologist and after 2-3 years, you'll be streamed into the technical ladder on TIER 1 remuneration scheme. Good luck.

This unlimited medical has been phased out a long time ago. Housing loan was also phase out for newcomers a long time ago as well. It's nothing new.

Not really. Maybe iPerintis but not Petronas.

Depends on your performance rating. Those who performs spectacularly will get a rating of 1 which will entails a 10-12 percent increment and also a merit bonus which usually range from 3-6 months monthly salary. Those who did outstanding performance will get a rating of 2 and will get an increment of 8-10 percent and a merit bonus equivalent to 2-4 months salary

Normal mortals like the rest of us gets a performance rating of 3 and will get an increment ranging from 4-6 percent and no merit bonus

Those with disciplinary problems will get a performance rating of 4 and will be under review for the next 6 months and if no improvement is seen will be given the sack.

Does not matter. Do not change your plans based on something that is still uncertain. Once you get the offer letter and you're 100% that nothing will change.

Masjoni, I am not sure what the scope for the operations dept is. I assume you'll be in Carigali right? As for well sitting, I don't believe PETRONAS does well sitting anymore, it has been outsourced to te mud logging companies I think.

You can always request for a transfer after 3 years but I guess being in operations is also good as it will exposed you to the nitty gritty of the well operations. Once you have your operations experience, you can then moved either to the Exploration division or the Petroleum Engineering division (which handles all the development geology side of things under the asset teams concept). Get as much experience as you can and then chart your career from there. I started immediately with 3D geological modeling which is good but obviously I lack the operations experience.

Petrophysicist usually belongs to the Petroleum Engineering Division but they can also be in the exploration division as well.

I joined as a fresh grad. Yes, fresh grads comes in as an E1 executive. I know that PETRONAS is going to change their salary grading soon but entrance grade will still be E1.

The salary grade if I am not mistaken will be E1-E5, (where they will split E1-E2 into 5 band, similar to SG20-24 before), there will be M1-M3 for the managerial level, then C1-C2 I think for the GM levels and H1-H2 for the SGM levels, now is that 14? I must have missed the E4 subdivisions.

This was explained to me when I had lunch with my friends (he will be a an H2 and the other friend was going to be a C2) so was not really taking notes.

Wahhh lots of question. I'm using an iPhone so it's a pain in the behind to type the reply. I'll reply using my computer soon.

I'm no longer with Petronas. Left the company 6 years ago and now in the middle east.

When I joined PRSS a looong time ago, there were 2 main job for PRSS, it's basically the lab department for PETRONAS (in competition with Core Lab basically) and also the custodian for the Core Warehouse (previously in Hulu Langat and now moved to Ulu Klang). It does applied research (not many pure research which the previous CEO wanted to leave it to the Universities) and also technical services. I was involved mostly with Technical Services (something like a consulting arm for Petronas). I actually started 3D static modeling work while I was in one of the project in the technical services line of work.

I believe now, PRSS has been restructured where they don't do technical services anymore and mostly concentrate on applied research and specializing in EOR. So you mostly will be involved in the EOR projects most of the time probably doing core flooding, Special Core Analysis (SCAL) and based on what I hear, they are bringing those expensive equipment etc so you should have the state of the art equipment to do all your work.

After PRSS I joined PMU and actually was involved in pushing all the operators to implement EOR. Before I left we managed to make sure that ExxonMobile implement EOR for the 95 PSC fields (Guntong/Seligi/Tapis) and for Shell to implement EOR in the Baram Delta (The EOR PSC that they signed last time around worth 37 billion) and for Carigali to implement EOR for Angsi and Dulang field.

EPTC is the E&P Technology Center and they are responsible for coming up with the EOR FDP so they will be PRSB main client. Angsi will be a chemical flooding EOR, Dulang is Immiscible WAG (Water Alternating Gas) EOR, Tapis/Seligi/Guntong will be an immiscible WAG as well (may involving CO2 as well) and the Baram Delta was plan for a CO2 flooding but I think it will be immiscible WAG as well.

The EOR Head in PRSS is a friend of mine and she is very nice. The head in EPTC was my previous boss but he is a slave driver so be wary.

As for career, well it depends, if you want to specialize in reservoir engineer in terms of the technical detail of it, then PRSS is the place to stay but I do recommend you getting some operational experience as well. I have gaps in my skills with regards to the operation side of things because I jumped directly into doing static models (which is a specialised field) and the thing I would change is probably spend some more time in Carigali (maybe 4-5 years). But you work with what you're given.

There is always chance for you to move to different OPU but if you spend too much time and experience in the lab, then your movement opportunity is limited. If you spend it say doing lab work (PVT, SCAL, Core Flooding) and then using those experience to help you in doing reservoir simulation work, then the opportunity is endless.

Good luck!

He's the custodian reservoir engineer. One of the main reason I left the company. A pain in the behind to work with. As the saying goes, people don't leave their companies, they leave their bosses.

I'm horrible at giving advice because I hate making choices. I like it when choices have been made but I hate the process of making the choice. It is seriously up to you. If you believe that you will be happy in Petronas, then go for that. Obviously Petronas' position is permanent as compared to Murphy but I believe the financial package is probably better from Murphy right? I always do solat istikharah and if you're a Muslim I suggest you do the same. Another thing to consider is what SG did PETRONAS offer you. Of it's E1, then it's on the low side.

Yes.

Lowering your cholesterol is easy. Make sure you eat a proper meal. Avoid those fast foods and also avoid sugary stuff and don't eat durian ohh avoid eating any dishes with organs in it (liver, brains etc etc) avoid eating the skins as well. Now, you also need to realize that if your cholesterol level is high, you should take care of your body and change your eating habits and start exercising!

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Added on October 13, 2012, 10:32 pmSorry, have not been able to visit LYN for a while. Been a bit busy lately and am in the States for a business trip.

To answer your question, I am not familiar with Petronas Motorsports so can't really help you there. But with 5 years experience, you should be aiming for E2 position.

This post has been edited by azraeil: Oct 13 2012, 10:32 PM

@oshee, ahhh yes you need to stop eating Durians and those mutton/kambing dishes (at least until you pass the cholesterol level test).

You need to insist on the contractual bonus to be specifically included in the contract, otherwise Management Discretion just means no bonus.

@Kitteh,

There is no such thing as your experience being considered diluted due to the mass hiring. Your work experience is individual. As long as you have the righ attitude, not shy in asking your seniors relevant questions, willing to take challenging assignments and delivering your assignments on time and with quality work, then all other MNCs will be eager to hire you.

My company has around 80 Malaysian families and 50 of them are ex-Petronas, 10 ex-Shella and another 10 ex-Exxon. As you can see, Petronas staff are highly regarded in the industry. When I was offered the position with my current company, my salary package was 5 times higher than my Petronas salary. Now it will be about 2 times higher as Petronas has gone into an aggressive staff retention mode for those in critical skills group.

My company usually hires people with 10 years experience or more but have lowered it down to 6 years for Malaysian as we have shown them that we are extremely capable in doing the jobs.

Get as much experience as you can while in Petronas. I will forever be grateful to Petronas for giving me the opportunity to gain experience in the industry and I have to say that the staff development program that they have in Petronas is world class.

Good Luck.

@pandikar, SKG16 is which skill group? Facilities and Instrumentation is it?

Yes, I know several engineers on the process side of things who is working in Aramco. They were previosuly from MLNG and some from Penapisan Melaka/Kerteh so SKG16 (Process Tech) is also in demand from my company. I also know that more and more on the engineering side is coming over