KUALA LUMPUR (April 6): Ocean Vantage Holdings Bhd's wholly-owned unit Ocean Vantage Engineering Sdn Bhd has clinched a RM71.3 million contract to provide civil, building and piling works for a new onshore gas plant in Sarawak, owned by Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas).

The contract for the additional gas sales facilities 2 (BAGSF-2) in Bintulu was awarded by Petrofac Engineering Services (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.

Petrofac Malaysia is part of Petrofac Ltd, a UK-based leading energy services company. The company was appointed by Petronas' subsidiary Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd as the main contractor for the gas plant.

Ocean Vantage executive director Stephen Yau Kah Tak said the group can get a healthy profit margin in the mid-teens range for this project compared to single-digit margins in normal contracting jobs.

"Meanwhile, this contract also marks a meaningful breakthrough for us into downstream oil and gas (O&G) activities, as we are more heavily involved in upstream works in the past. It is our goal to have a more balanced exposure in both upstream and downstream segments," he said in a statement on Wednesday (April 6).

Commencing on April 1, Ocean Vantage expects to complete the temporary site facility works by June 2 this year, while the civil, building and piling works are slated to finish by April 30, 2023.

As such, the contract shall contribute positively to the group's earnings for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2021 (FY21) and FY22.

Given the prevailing high crude oil price that is projected to sustain at least in the near to mid term, Ocean Vantage said it sees many opportunities as capital expenditures are flowing again.

"Petronas has said it is allocating RM20 billion capex a year from 2022 to 2027, with 60% set for domestic spending."

Ocean Vantage highlighted that Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg announced in February 2022 that the state was exploring new O&G blocks onshore and offshore to ensure sufficient volume to power Sarawak's journey towards industrialisation.

In a separate filing, the company said trading of its shares was halted from 2.30pm on Wednesday and will resume from 3.30pm.

Ocean Vantage shares were last traded at 26.5 sen. This gives the Sarawak-based integrated energy support services provider a market capitalisation of RM106.82 million.