By Za'im Zaini

Receiving them were BSP's Managing Director Dr Grahaeme Henderson, accompanied by wife Annmarie, who also hosted a welcoming reception for the guests at their official residence in Seria.

The programme commenced with a mandatory safety briefing before an overview of BSP's oil and gas exploration and production activities was given.

Special mention was also made of the company's wide-ranging business improvement strategies, which include delivering excellent results in the key areas of its performance.

The visitors were then taken on a tour of BSP's Marine Construction Yard in KB to get a closer look at how offshore platforms are constructed with expertise, including the recently built Mampak platform.

They later left for a site visit to view activities of the onshore drilling rig N503, presently being used to drill the Seria Gamma well, and an eminent example of how BSP leverages on the power of advanced technology to drive its business forward.

The rig, standing nearly 60m high with an enormous footprint of some 180 by 100 metres, can deliver a massive 2,500 horsepower and drill up to seven kilometres beneath ground surface.

It also has state-of-the-art features, such as remotely controlled tubular handling for enhanced efficiency and safety, as well as sophisticated environmental protection system for drilling mud.

The programme continued with a visit to the Seria Crude Oil Terminal, where the guests were briefed on how oil and gas are processed and exported, before being taken on a site tour of the facilities for the separation of oil and water.

The trip's highlight was a visit to the new emulsion treatment plant, which commenced operations a day earlier.

The final stop was the Brunei refinery, where guests took another tour to see how crude oil was stored and loaded on tankers. They were also briefed on the distillation of crude oil, as well as the blending of condensates received from the New Gas Compression Plant.