Following the lead of many other oil and gas services companies, Malaysia's Tanjung Offshore, which has MYR70m ($17.1m) cash in hand, is in talks to buy onshore oilfield assets in Southeast Asia, local reports said.

Tanjung Offshore group ceo Rahmandin Md Shamsudin said it was in talks with several onshore oilfield asset owners in Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar and was also looking at assets in Australia. "We have to make use of our existing resources to venture into some other areas where we hope will bring recurring income," Rahmandin said.

He said Tanjong Offshore would also continue to pursue more downstream projects at Petronas' Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project.

It had set up an office in Johor and is planning to build a facility for maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services in Pengerang, Johor.

Currently, the group's orderbook stands at MYR400m with 80% comprising works relating to RAPID, while the remaining 20% consists of its unit Gas Generators (Gastec) contracts and other projects.

"To replenish our orderbook, we have tendered for MYR1bn worth of jobs. We are looking to enter into precision fabrication support services. Historically, our success rate is between 20% to 30% of the bids," Rahmandin said.

Meanwhile, on the RM20m lawsuit filed against its former directors relating to the acquisition of Gastec, Rahmandin said this will not affect the performance of the company.

"As you may know, the previous managing director Datuk Harzani has been charged by the MACC (Malaysia Anti Corruption Commission). The process is ongoing. And we have already initiated a civil suit against some of the officers, directors of the previous board.

"I cannot say much as it may jeopardise the actions we are taking. We want to assure shareholders that we are doing something about these legacy issues," Rahmandin said.