Labuan, 10 May 2010 - The UMW Group, through its Oil & Gas Division, officially opened its new West plant here, this morning. The West plant is an expansion to its East plant, which is Malaysia’s premium threading plant for Oil Country Tubular Goods. This new plant was completed late last year with an initial investment of RM 15 million, under the management and operations of its subsidiary, UMW Oilpipe Services Sdn Bhd.

According to En Zulkifly Zakaria, President of UMW Oil & Gas Berhad, “UMW Oilpipe Services or UOS was established in 1988 to support the operations of the oil majors operating in East Malaysia. We are Malaysia’s premium threading plant for Oil Country Tubular Goods, with a total production capacity of 80,000 metric tonnes per annum (East and West Plant). Our East Plant, where we started more than 20 years ago is located just 1km away from here. Both plants stand on 7 acres of land and house facilities that enable us to effectively meet the needs of drilling companies and contractors. The strategic location of our plants at the Asian Supply Base in the Federal Territory of Labuan has enabled us to play a significant role in the support sector for the oil & gas industry.”

The opening of West plant will further increase the annual production capacity as well as to fulfill the market demand of OCTG offerings. The plant is equipped with 4 latest CNC threading lathe capable to thread from 2-3/8” to 10” OD and expected annual capacity of 20,000 metric tonnes.

UOS’s OCTG offering compasses threading of casing and tubing, manufacture of couplings, and fabrication of pup joints and crossovers. Other services include make-up of accessories including carbon and high alloy materials, offshore running inspection and OCTG one-stop shop integrated services.

“We utilise only approved thread patterns at our plants, among others, VAM TOP Connection, JFE FOX Connection and Tenaris Connections. Our plants are also accorded with API Q1, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications. We have a total of 150 staff to support our operations, with 50 of them operating at this West Plant,” added En Zulkifly Zakaria.

The official opening ceremony of UMW Oilpipe Services Sdn Bhd’s West Plant was graced by Tan Sri Datuk Asmat Kamaludin, Group Chairman of UMW Holdings Berhad.