What It Does: Petronas is an oil and gas company specializing in the exploration, production, refining, distribution, and marketing of assorted petrochemicals. Petronas also processes and trades liquefied natural gas. This company is involved in gas transmission pipeline network operations, real estate investment, and automotive engineering.
Mission: Petronas's mission is to provide superior quality products, solutions, and services to its clients.
Size and Presence: The exact size of Petronas's workforce in Nigeria is unknown. The company's headquarters is located in Ikoyi, Lagos.
Best Known For: Petronas is one of the top oil and gas companies in Nigeria. The company is known for its wide range of activities in the oil and gas sector, including upstream, midstream, and downstream activities. The company has several subsidiaries, fully owned or co-owned, with another conglomerate.
The Good Bits: The pay is good. There are attractive employment benefits, which shows that the company has a sound welfare policy. Petronas has a good company culture.
The Not-So-Good Bits: There's high work pressure and long working hours.
Petronas was established in Malaysia in the 20th century, 1974 precisely. Certain legislation, the Petroleum Development Act, brought this company into existence. Tengku Razaleigh assumed control of the reins of the newly formed organization. The company proceeded to negotiate with oil and gas companies operating in Malaysian waters. Shell and Exxon, two giants in the oil and gas industry, refused to negotiate with Petronas.
This refusal triggered Petronas to issue a notice informing foreign oil and gas firms such as Exxon and Shell that they would be considered illegal explorers in Malaysian waters if they resisted negotiation with them. It took a while, but both companies eventually gave ground to Petronas. Shortly after, Petronas assumed complete control of the entire oil and gas operations in the country. Petronas diversified into other areas of business, such as shipping.
In 1990, Petronas started international expansion. The first foreign operation was established in Vietnam. Towards the end of the 90s, precisely 1999, Petronas brought its business to Nigeria.
Petronas has a rich company culture that has become the industry standard. It's a people-oriented organization. The company prides itself on being an equal opportunity employer and welcomes diversity to foster an inclusive environment where the differences within its workforce will be appreciated. The company is blind to ethnicity, gender, religion, employment background, etc. There's a strong sense of family or community at Petronas.
A healthy work environment makes it easier for employees to cope with work pressure. This kind of environment allows fresh graduates and interns to grow, especially at the onset of their careers. Workers respect each other and also show regard for the management.
Petronas is a firm believer in human resources and plays a significant role in training and developing them for successful careers in the oil and gas industry. The company has several career programs to make this happen. Its internship program targets young and promising undergraduates in fields related to the industry. Through this program, they become interns and gain practical work experience in the company. The fresh graduates are not left out. The company's GEES (Graduate Employability Enhancement Scheme) targets fresh graduates and aims to make them more employable. This program produces graduates that are either able to secure long-term employment or start up their own companies.
Their recruiting process includes the following:
A fresher at Petronas earns an average annual pay of ₦2.5 million.
Petronas intends to provide low-carbon energy solutions and possibly achieve a zero carbon footprint in the environment. The company also recycles unused textiles as a means of reducing environmental pollution.