Set to take off in the fourth quarter of 2011 at Pulau Hanyut, Melaka, the project will be the first seaport and independent oil storage tank in Malaysia catering to the marine industry.

It would involve land reclamation, tank storage facilities, pipeline network, boiler/heater, fire safety, ancillary plant and other developments necessary to interface the proposed facility to the quayside berths and licences for the handling of petroleum products.

“The implementation has had a small setback as we had to face certain constraints in the past. Now, we believe that we have managed to bring in the most suitable strategic partner in Distinct Glory to be alongside us to see the success of the undertakings.

“The timing is very impeccable as we can see that there are many oil projects heading towards East Asia this coming years, which means petroleum product storage is an essential element to support these oil industries,” said Haji Saiful Bhari Abdul Hadi, the Executive Chairman of Pristine Oil Capital Sdn Bhd.

He said this at the signing of a memorandum of strategic partnership between Pristine Oil Capital Sdn Bhd (the concession owner) and Distinct Glory Sdn Bhd for the proposed Melaka Oil Storage Terminal (MOST), witnessed by Kluang State Assemblyman and also Selayang Umno Divisional Chief, Shukor Idrus in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week.

Accompanying Saiful for Pristine Oil Capital was its Chief Executive Officer, Lt Col Fadzillah Omar Bakri, while Distinct Glory were represented by Paul Browsa Bongkos and accompanied by CEO, Mashenrah Talayan.

Saiful said the inclusion of Distinct Glory in the collaboration will see that the construction of MOST is done in four phases – the marine terminal jetty, multipurpose oil storage tank farms with 360,000 million ton capacity, a 5MW power plant and an administration building which will be built on 80 acres of land.

“This will be the first collaboration for the two companies with the second collaboration being looking into a similar project in Sabah,” he added.

He said the oil industry’s outlook has shown encouraging momentum in the region and with this first sea port terminal it will be the best location for storage as well as bunkering services which the company planned to play a role in the region.

“Eventually Pristine Oil will also go into the trading sector in oil and gas.

We want to begin the trading sector of the company by introducing Pristine X-tra Motor Oil,” he said.

Meanwhile, Paul said, the company was incorporated as a Sabah-based Bumiputera company in response to the government’s call for them to participate in the oil and gas industry, which Sabah is fairly lacking in this area.

“With this in mind, we are determined to be one of the leading key players in the field of oil and gas, marine and heavy engineering industry not only in Malaysia but also internationally.

“And I believe that the oil and gas industry has yet to be fully tapped, as there are still vast resources in the offshore region in Sabah,” he said.

He believed that Bumiputera companies must be willing to demonstrate more courage by participating in big projects.

Therefore, he said it was imperative and important that they discard the fear syndrome or having an inferior mindset to become the catalyst for sustainable economic development and growth in order to realise and complement the government’s effort in its Economic Transformation Programme (ETP).

He said Distinct Glory Sdn Bhd has the capability and the technical know-how, with a dynamic and efficient management team headed by the company’s CEO, Mashenrah Talayan, who has a wide working experience in the oil and gas field for about 10 years.

“But most importantly, we have a strong financial back-up,” he said.

Paul said when this project kicks-off, it will create hundreds of job opportunities in the highly skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled work positions which will definitely boost the socio-economic development of the nation.