[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 186 (Monday, September 27, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 57674-57676]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-21606]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

International Trade Administration


Oil and Gas Equipment and Services Trade Mission

AGENCY: International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.

ACTION:  Notice to announce Oil and Gas Equipment and Services Trade 
Mission to Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam, December 6-14, 2004.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Commercial Service, Office of Global Trade 
Programs, is organizing an Oil and Gas Equipment and Services Trade 
Mission to Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam, December 6-14, 2004. This 
event offers a timely opportunity for U.S. firms to tap into some of 
the world's fastest growing marketplaces for oil and gas equipment and 
services. The mission will target companies in all sectors of the oil 
and gas industry, with particular focus on pipeline and tubular goods, 
drilling machinery and equipment, surveying technology, and safety 
equipment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Office of Global Trade Programs; Room 
2012; Department of Commerce; Washington, DC 20230; tel: (202) 482-
4457; Fax: (202) 482-0178.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Oil and Gas Equipment and Services Trade Mission

    Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam, December 6-14, 2004.

Mission Statement

I. Description of the Mission

    The U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade 
Administration, U.S. Commercial Service, Office of Global Trade 
Programs, is organizing an Oil and Gas Equipment and Services Trade 
Mission to Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam, December 6-14, 2004. This 
event offers a timely opportunity for U.S. firms to tap into some of 
the world's fastest growing marketplaces for oil and gas equipment and 
services. The mission will target companies in all sectors of the oil, 
and gas industry, with particular focus on pipeline and tubular goods, 
drilling machinery and equipment, surveying technology, and safety 
equipment. In addition to receiving a personalized schedule of one-on-
one appointments with qualified agents, distributors, representatives, 
licensees, and joint venture partners, mission delegates will visit 
Offshore South East Asia 2004 (OSEA 2004), the leading oil and gas 
trade show in Asia, and a U.S. Department of Commerce Certified Trade 
Fair. OSEA 2004, to be held in Singapore, will offer mission 
participants an extra venue to network and learn about business 
opportunities in South East Asia.

II. Commercial Setting for the Mission

    Projections made by the International Energy Agency in its World 
Energy Outlook 2002 indicate that more than 60% of the increase in 
world primary energy demand between 2000 and 2030 will come from 
developing countries, especially in Asia. Critical to satisfying this 
demand is a move to develop South East Asia's massive gas resources; 
large reserves have been found in Indonesia (158 trillion cubic feet) 
and also in the Malaysian/Thailand Joint Development Zone (7.6 trillion 
cubic feet). Producing and exporting these reserves, particularly as 
LNG to South Korea, Japan and China, represents a huge export revenue 
generator. The World Offshore Drilling Report by analysts Douglas 
Westwood projected that some US $18.26 billion was to have been

[[Page 57675]]

spent on offshore drilling in Asia in 2003, with the total investment 
between 2002 and 2007 set at US $38.62 billion.
    Malaysia: Prospects for Malaysia's oil and gas industry are still 
bright and the sector should experience healthy growth rates. During 
the past five years, approximately US $6.6 billion has been spent on 
exploration and production. About fifty percent of Malaysia's crude 
reserves remain undeveloped. A total of about US $16.2 billion will be 
invested by the petroleum industry during the Eighth Malaysia Plan 
period (2001-2005), as stated in the Government of Malaysia's five-year 
plan. Of this, US $10.9 billion (67.5%) will be spent for exploration, 
development and production activities by Petronas (National Petroleum 
Corporation) and its production-sharing contractors.
    Malaysis has a broad, shallow continental shelf (330,000 sq. km) 
and some deepwater prospective areas. In total, Malaysia has 
approximately 500,000 square kilometers available for oil and gas 
exploration, of which 205,000 square kilometers are currently covered 
by Production Sharing Contracts (PSC). The country's deeper offshore 
areas, with water depths of 200 meters or more, have only more recently 
been opened to oil and gas exploration. There are now 70 producing 
fields in Malaysia, 51 of which are oil fields. As of January 1, 2004, 
oil and gas reserves were estimated to be 4.84 billion barrels of crude 
oil and 87.0 trillion standard cubic feet (tscf) of natural gas. At 
current rates of production, oil reserves in Malaysia are expected to 
last 18 years and gas reserves, 34 years. Malaysia's current production 
of crude oil and condensates is about 750,000 barrels per day and about 
2.20 tscf per year respectively.
    Four new PSCs were concluded during the last 15 months, bringing 
the number of PSCs in operation in Malaysia to 49, the highest level so 
far. Petronas has estimated that the PSC contractors invested US $2.88 
billion during the April 2003-March 2004 period, with most of the 
investments channeled into development projects.
    Efforts to search for oil and gas have recently extended to some of 
the more unconventional areas, such as the deepwater acreage, where 
very limited exploration activities were carried out in the past due to 
technological constraints and high investment costs. Petronas recently 
introduced the Deepwater Production Sharing Contract (PSC) that 
provides added incentives to production sharing contractors to 
undertake exploration activities in the prospective deepwater areas. 
Since the 1993 signing of its first deepwater PSC with Mobil, Petronas 
has awarded 13 blocks under the Deepwater PSC terms to 11 multinational 
companies. The latest: two deepwater blocks were awarded to Murphy Oil 
in January 2003, and one deepwater block to Newfield Exploration 
Company (U.S.).
    The Malaysian market for oil and gas equipment in 2003 was 
estimated at US$575 million. Malaysia's oil and gas equipment is 
supplied mostly through imports because local production is very small. 
It is expected that equipment needs will continue to be supplied 
through imports for the next several years. Malaysia uses primarily 
American made oil and gas equipment and tools, with at least 60% of the 
imports coming directly from the United States.
    Singapore: Singapore is the world's third largest oil refining and 
trading center, and has long been a global hub for oil refining and a 
cost-competitive location for highly integrated, world-scale 
petrochemical plants. Jurong Island, created in the 1990s by merging 
some seven smaller islands, houses some of the world's biggest names in 
the petroleum and petrochemicals industries. Companies like ExxonMobil, 
Shell, Chevron Texaco, BASF, Sumitomo Chemical and Mitsui Chemical are 
based on Juorng Island. Singapore also plays a dominant role in the 
specialty chemicals industry, in the area of lube and fuel additives, 
consumer care specialities, electronic chemicals and materials, polymer 
additives, and coatings and inks. The chemical industry grew strongly 
in 2002 despite difficult conditions. Output grew by 7 percent to 
S$31.2 billion (Singaporean Dollars) and value-added grew 22 percent to 
S$4.9 billion. The petroleum sector accounted for slightly more than 
half, or S$17.6 billion, of the total output, with petrochemicals 
generating S$8.5 billion. Singapore also offers 12 research institutes 
and three universities which offer opportunities for R&D 
collaborations.
    Amid Asia's strengthening economy and the implementation of the US-
Singapore Free Trade Agreement, which further enhances Singapore's 
reputation as the gateway to South East Asia, U.S. companies on the 
mission can leverage their presence at Offshore South East Asia (OSEA) 
2004, the region's premier oil and gas trade show, to tap the vast 
opportunities in the region.
    Vietnam: Vietnam has so far discovered over 50 oil and gas fields 
with total estimated reserves of about 1.15 billion tons of proven 
crude oil equivalent, which include 540 million tons of oil and 640 
billion cubic meters (cbms) of natural gas. The production of crude oil 
and gas in 2003 reached 17.16 million tons and 3.7 billion cbms 
respectively. It is estimated that Vietnam will produce about 16-18 
million tons of crude oil from local operation, 3 million tons from 
foreign operation and 11-13 billion cmbs of gas by 1020.
    The industry is expected to achieve the growth rate of 10-15 
percent per year over the coming years. The total investment required 
to realize such a rapid growth is about US$19-20 billion by 2010, of 
which over US$10 billion may be funded by local sources and the 
remaining US$10 billion by foreign investors. According to Petro 
Vietnam, a state-owned monopoly in the sector, oil and gas exploration 
and exploitation will be increased in the coming years to raise the 
country's total discovered oil and gas reserves to 1.5-1.6 billion tons 
of crude oil equivalent by 2010.
    In particular, upstream and mid-stream operation will need about 
US$900 million to 1.1 billion in new investment per year for 
exploration and production activities as well as the construction of 
two refinery facilities, in Dung Quat and Nghi Son, and possibly a 
third refinery in the South.
    American technologies, expertise and experience are highly 
respected in the oil and gas industry in Vietnam. This presents 
significant opportunities for U.S. firms to export/transfer equipment,
    Indonesia: The market for oil and gas equipment in Indonesia 
remains attractive and has a promising outlook for the long term. In 
2003, the government awarded 15 new oil and gas concessions, receiving 
a total of $343.82 million in investment commitments. This was a 
significant improvement over 2001 and 2002 and when the government 
awarded only six contracts and one contract respectively.
    In 2002, the total investment (for exploration, production, and 
administration) reached $3.4 billion, down 13 percent from 2001. In 
2003 (preliminary figures), investment from production-sharing 
contractors (PSCs) reached $3.97 billion, including $1.13 billion for 
exploration, $2.5 billion for production and $329,000 for 
administration. The government expects to award another 17 new oil and 
gas contracts this year with a target of 50 new contracts over the next 
five years.
    Total investment in 2004 is predicted to reach $7 billion, which in 
turn is expected to create significant market opportunities for U.S. 
oil and gas equipment and services. industry sources estimate that the 
market will increase by 20% in 2004, with U.S. market share increasing 
by 10%, given

[[Page 57676]]

planned exploration and development of existing oil fields.

III. Scenario for the Mission

Timetable

Sunday, December 5--Arrive in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Monday, December 6--Market Briefing and Trade Mission Meetings
Tuesday, December 7--Trade Mission Meetings
Wednesday, December 8--Arrive in Singapore Market Briefing and Meetings 
at OSEA 2004
Thursday, December 9--Trade Mission Meetings at OSEA 2004
Friday, December 10--Trade Mission Meetings at OSEA 2004
Saturday, December 11--Free
Sunday, December 12--Arrive Hanoi, Vietnam
Monday, December 13--Market Briefing and Trade Mission Meetings
Tuesday, December 14--Trade Mission Meetings Conclusion of Trade 
Mission

V. Criteria for Participant Selection

     Relevance of the company's business line to mission goals;
     Potential for business in the selected markets;
     Timeless of the company's completed application and 
payment of the mission participation fee;
     Provision of adequate information on the company's 
products and/or services and communication of the company's primary 
objectives to facilitate appropriate matching with potential business 
partners;
     Certification that the company meets Departmental 
guidelines for participation, including certification that the 
company's products and/or services are manufactured or produced in the 
United States or if manufactured/produced and/or services are 
manufactured or produced in the United States or if manufactured/
produced outside of the United States, the product/service must be 
marketed under the name of the U.S. firm and have U.S. content of at 
least fifty-one percent of the value of the finished good or service.
    The mission will be promoted through the following venues: U.S. 
Export Assistance Centers and Teams; the Federal Register; relevant 
trade publications; relevant trade associations; post Commerce trade 
mission participants; various in-house and purchased industry lists; 
and the Commerce Department trade missions calendar--http://www.ita.doc.gov/doctm/tmcal.html--and other Internet Web sites.
    Any partisan political activities of an applicant, including 
political contributions, will be entirely irrelevant to the selection 
process. The participation fee will be $3,500 for the trade mission. 
Participation fees do not include the cost of travel and lodging. 
Participation is open to the first 10 qualified U.S. companies. 
Recruitment will begin immediately and will close on Friday, October 
29, 2004. Applications received after that date will be considered only 
if space and scheduling constraints permit.
    Contact Information: Matthew H. Wright, International Trade 
Specialist, Global Trade Programs, U.S. Department of Commerce, Room 
2012, Washington, DC 20230, tel: 202-482-2567/fax: 202-482-0178, e-
mail: [email protected].

    Dated: August 26, 2004.
Donald Businger,
Director, Office of Trade Event Programs.
[FR Doc. 04-21606 Filed 9-24-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-DR-M