KUALA LUMPUR: The oil and gas industry should leverage on the opportunities posed by the current low oil price environment, and prepare itself for when the global market recovers, says Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) president and group chief executive officer Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin.
"Following the repercussion of the oil price drop, companies scrambled to relook their business processes and cost structures in frantic efforts to drive down expenditures.
"This presents an opportunity in itself, if we view it not only as a stop-gap measure, but take the effort to ensure that processes and cost structures are redesigned for simplicity, and to support long term lower operating costs and higher efficiency.
While we each have our own interests and shareholders to safeguard, this is also the time for meaningful collaborations through industry level coalitions that will represent the wider interest of the economies where operate," said Wan Zulkiflee in his keynote address during the 18th Asia Oil and Gas Conference (AOGC 2015) today.
He also emphasised on the importance to remain optimistic within the current gloom and doom of the oil and gas environment.
"I would like to call upon players in the industry to interpret the current scenario through the lens of an optimist: to initiate reforms into our economies, build capacity of our workforce, and explore new ways to increase competitiveness," he told about 1,702 participants from 108 countries.
The annual conference themed ‘Realising Opportunities Amidst Challenges’ is attended by the world's prominent oil and gas industry leaders and organised by national oil company, Petronas, at which time this year came at an interesting phase for the industry.