Dear Editor,
THIS is my response Datuk
Rahman Dahlan in yesterday’s Borneo Post. Oil is a State owned natural
resources. If it is not profitable, then why did the Federal Government saw it
fit to snatch this important resource of revenue from the Sabah in the first
place?
Petronas has never been
transparent in its operation and financial account since 1976 until today. Why
is Petronas so secretive? Since this natural resources belongs to the rakyat of
Sabah, the rakyat have every right to know its operations and financial
position. Petronas’ money is the Sabahans’ money. Hence, the Petronas’ account
must be subject to public scrutiny.
The only small piece of
information which has reached the public knowledge about Petronas’ operation is
that Sabah produces about One Million barrels of crude oil per day out of which
5% goes to Sabah, being the oil producing State, and another 5% goes to the
Federal Government.
After deducting operating
costs the nett profit of the remaining 90% barrels goes to the Federal Government
being the sole shareholder and beneficiary of Petronas. By a rough calculation
based on the above information Sabah gets 50,000.00 barrels a day (i.e. based
on the 5%) which equal to 4.45,000 USD (or RM13.7 Million) a day.
A year is RM4.97 Billion.
Now, how much nett profit does the Federal Government get out of the remaining
90% or 900,000 barrels a day is anyone’s guess.
If Petronas cannot manage
its operation after 15% increase of royalty to Sabah as Datuk Rahman Dahlan
claimed, then being an MP for BN he should now advise Petronas to close shop.
It would be prudent for Petronas to give back its operation to the Sabah State
Government.
The State Government would
then decide either to manage its oil industry by itself or award its oil
operation to competent oil companies like Shell and or others. After all, after
36 years Sabahans have not benefited much from their very own oil and gas
resources. In fact, Sabah has turned into a POOREST land in the country.
It is rather absurd for
Petronas to complain now about its operating costs and non-profitability after
36 years in operation. It is like a father on a dinner table with his children,
saying “This fish taste awful” discouraging them to not even touch it, yet he
himself walloping it into his stomach all by himself.
Best Regards,
PETER MARAJIN
Peter Marajin's objections are laughable, as they are premised on his (mis)understanding of how to run a FORTUNE Global 500 multinational oil and gas corporation like PETRONAS.
ReplyDeleteDoes he seriously think that it's that easy to set up such a prestigous National Oil Company and then shut it down, and hand it over to the Sabah State Government, which has no experience whatsoever in running an oil and gas company?
While Peter Marajin sounds patriotically Sabahan, his asinine recommendations can only bring Sabah to ruination.
Cakap memanglah senang. Nak buat lain cerita, bukan? (words are cheap; put your money where your mouth is, why don't you?)
By the way, PETRONAS' full audited accounts are available in the Parliament Library for all politicians to see(especially Opposition politicians for a penchant for questioning anything and everything under the sun).
DeleteSo, please take a good long look and see where you and your cohorts can do things differently there at PETRONAS.