Petronas profits fall, pump prices also will rise soon...
Either way, you consumers are suckled. To the top people at the National Oil Corporation, the oil revenues/profits are for them to mainly enjoy, NOT for the Rakyat/citizens at large whose trust has been emplaced on these suckers and UMNO chieftains with the right cables who continue to plunder...
Does it really matter to the ordinary ciizen Joe like you and me whether Petronas achieved super huge profits like last Financial Year (and the immediate two years too?), and now currently reporting declining profits? Not one positive byte. When world oil pices rose, the Government lamented the subsidy element had risen, therefore pump prices had to be RAISED.
When world oil prices fell/are falling as now, the Government laments the Petronas' profits would fall, and therefore they might have to raise pump prices to make up for the shortfall in revenues accruing to the government's coffers.
"Heads you win, tails I lose." (This is my initial projection based on the previous lessons of Petronas-cum-Government followup actions after Petronas' annual announcement of financials. I will be happy to be proven wrong this time around, and God bless my fellow Malaysians it's the beginning of rolling good times ahead...This point was ADDED @6.25PM June 26, 2009 ~~ YLChong)
I am going to bed with a curse silently creeping stealthily onto my lips praying that those vultures in charge of my country's rich resourc would have just desserts after enjoying the free lunches on the tax-payers' behalf...
May God save us from these trustees,
I:
S:
A: men.
From the Malaysian Inisder:
Petronas profit falls
UPDATED
By Lee Wei Lian
KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — National oil company Petronas’s net profit declined by 13.9 per cent due to low oil prices and high production costs.
The group reported RM52.5 billion in net profit compared with RM61 billion the previous year.
Petronas CEO and president Tan Sri Mohd Hassan Marican does not expect oil prices, currently around US$50 a barrel compared with a high of over US$140 last year, to improve any time soon.
"Fundamentals do not justify the prospect of high prices," he told the media during a briefing on the group's financial results.
"Demand is down and spare capacity has increased. My own opinion is that the current prices are due to speculative trading and the depreciation of the US dollar. We are still in a low price and high-cost environment till the global economy improves."
The Petronas group's revenue increased by 18.4 per cent to RM264.2 billion compared with RM223.1 billion the previous year.
"Our performance is on par with other major and national oil companies," said Hassan.
Looking forward, the company, one of the most profitable in Asia, expects to invest about US$12 billion (RM42 billion) this year of which 60 per cent will be to develop domestic upstream and downstream capabilities and the rest to develop new international hydrocarbon reserves.
It will also look to bring down costs by as much as 30 per cent to help its bottom line.
"We will talk to our contractors to bring down costs," said Hassan.
He added that the company's cash position is "very comfortable" but does not rule out raising funds via borrowings due to attractive interest rates.
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UPDATEd @6.25PM, June 26, 2009~~~~~~~
From malaysia-today.net:
Time for Najib to come clean on Petronas, Omar Mustapha
Posted by admin
Friday, 26 June 2009 17:16
Kit Siang also asked Najib to confirm if it was true he wanted to appoint a new Chief Executive Officer to replace the long-serving Hassan Merican, a blue-eyed boy of ex-PM Mahathir Mohamad.
By Wong Choon Mei, Suara Keadilan
Pakatan Rakyat leader Lim Kit Siang has asked Prime Minister Najib Razak to issue a clarification to Parliament on various issues related to national oil firm Petronas, including his insistence on appointing “defaulter Omar Mustapha” as director.
The DAP veteran also called for the urgent installation of a transparent system of accountability so that oil wealth accumulated by the firm was protected for future generations and not looted nor lost through high-level corruption.
“Recently, what is making waves in Petronas and well-informed local circles and reported internationally, though completely swept under the carpet by the local mainstream media, is the repeated attempts by Najib to force the appointment of his aide Omar Mustapha as director of Petronas,” said Kit Siang in his blog.
“Najib should explain to Parliament why he is insisting on appointing a Petronas loan defaulter as a director of Petronas, as the widespread objections to Omar’s appointment to the Petronas, now taken up by the Board, is fully justified and valid.”
Kit Siang also asked Najib to confirm if it was true he wanted to appoint a new Chief Executive Officer to replace the long-serving Hassan Merican, a blue-eyed boy of ex-PM Mahathir Mohamad.
“Earlier, the name of former Home Minister, Syed Hamid Albar had been bruited as the likely new Petronas CEO. In the last few days, another name has emerged: Mohd Bakke Salleh, the Felda Holdings group managing director, and that he is to understudy Hassan until the present Petronas CEO’s retirement next February,” said Kit Siang, who is also the Ipoh Timur MP.
“Although the final decision of the new Petronas CEO rests with the Prime Minister, MPs from both sides of the divide should be given the opportunity to give their views on the possible candidates.”
Government increasingly dependent on Petronas, but how long will the oil last
Kit Siang also expressed concern about the drop in profit reported by the oil firm on the back of lower global crude prices and higher production costs.
“Petronas plays a critical and strategic role in the public finances of the country, as Petronas paid out to the government RM74 billion in the financial year ending March 31, 2009 compared with RM61.6 billion the previous year, an increase of 20.1 per cent.
“Parliamentarians, whether Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, must also be given regular updates of Malaysia’s only company on Fortune 500, especially as Petronas has just reported a net profit decline by 13.9 per cent,” he added.
On Thursday, Petronas had reported RM52.5 billion in net profit for the financial year ending March 31, 2009, compared with RM61 billion previously although revenue increased by 18.4 per cent to RM264.2 billion compared with RM223.1 billion the year before.
Its contributions to the government in the form of dividends, taxes and royalty had amounted to RM72.5 billion or 45 per cent of federal government revenue in the 2008 calendar year.
As such, Kit Siang said it was vital to set up a transparent system of reporting to ensure that wealth accumulated by Petronas was fully protected and accounted for to prevent funds from being siphoned out through corruption.
“This is a very high figure reflecting the government’s heavy dependence on oil revenue, a situation which may not be sustainable or ideal for a country trying to develop an economy based on knowledge and innovation.
“Petronas represents the biggest chink in the government’s armour in its claim of accountability, transparency and good governance as the national oil corporation as presently constituted is totally not accountable to Parliament! There is no annual Petronas report to Parliament.
“If Najib is sincere in his motto of “1Malaysia, People First. Performance Now”, he should present to Parliament on Monday his proposal for a new regime of Petronas accountability to Parliament.so that there is meaningful monitoring and accounting of the petro-ringgit in Parliament,” the veteran leader said.
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