There's No Tomorrow

Hantu Laut

Melayu, Melayu, Melayu!

Hampir semua yang keluar membantah GST pada 1 Mei 2014 di Padang Merdeka, KL adalah orang Melayu. 

Anak-anak Melayu yang suka budaya lepak dan senang diperbodohkan.

Cina dan India dimana............???

Sumber:Helen Ang's Blog

Let us leave the maddening crowd and worry about the world's more pressing problem......fossil fuel!

At the rate we are pumping fossil fuel out of mother earth's belly, we will soon run out of this irreplaceable commodity.

The End Of Fossil Fuels

Fossil fuels, as the name suggests, are very old. North Sea oil deposits are around 150 million years old, whilst much of Britain’s coal began to form over 300 million years ago. Although humans probably used fossil fuels in ancient times, as far back as the Iron Age¹, it was the Industrial Revolution that led to their wide-scale extraction.

And in the very short period of time since then – just over 200 years – we’ve consumed an incredible amount of them, leaving fossil fuels all but gone and the climate seriously impacted.

Fossil fuels are an incredibly dense form of energy, and they took millions of years to become so. And when they’re gone, they’re gone pretty much forever.

It’s only a matter of time

Clearly fossil fuel reserves are finite - it's only a matter of when they run out - not if.  Globally - every year we currently consume the equivalent of over 11 billion tonnes of oil in fossil fuels. Crude oil reserves are vanishing at the rate of 4 billion tonnes a year¹ – if we carry on at this rate without any increase for our growing population or aspirations, our known oil deposits will be gone by 2052.

We’ll still have gas left, and coal too. But if we increase gas production to fill the energy gap left by oil, then those reserves will only give us an additional eight years, taking us to 2060.  But the rate at which the world consumes fossil fuels is not standing still, it is increasing as the world's population increases and as living standards rise in parts of the world that until recently had consumed very little energy.  Fossil Fuels will therefore run out earlier.  

It’s often claimed that we have enough coal to last hundreds of years. But if we step up production to fill the gap left through depleting our oil and gas reserves, the coal deposits we know about will only give us enough energy to take us as far as 2088. And let’s not even think of the carbon dioxide emissions from burning all that coal.  Read more.

Reducing Oil Prices: Anwar On The Stump, Stumping The Idiots.

Hantu Laut

Anwar is again trying to fool the people, again, and again, and again, and stumping the idiots who failed their mathematics. Orang yang tak pandai kira seperti Anwar.  

How much lower can he reduces fuel prices? 

Malaysia is already one of the lowest in the world and the lowest in the region. We are almost at par with the giants of oil producing countries.

I don't have to say in so many words.See charts below.

  
a href='http://www.mytravelcost.com/petrol-prices/'>

Choose your government wisely. There are more liars and racists in Pakatan than you ever realised.

Can they run a clean government? 

After collecting all the rubbish from UMNO, more rubbish in the offing. 

See who is their latest recruit!

"Mat Tyson", the ex-mentari besar of Selangor, who was caught in Australia with huge amount of unexplained money in his bag.

Macam mana kerajaan boleh bersih kalau boleh terima pencuri-pencuri tua dari UMNO.

Fikir!

(Unable to blog while in Beijing as many websites including blogs, Facebook and other social network sites are blocked in China)

Down,Down, Down !

Hantu Laut

We have one of the highest wastage of public funds through corruptions and incompetence.It wouldn't be an over-statement to say that at least 30% of taxpayers money are lost to these two evils in government.

We are also blessed by exploitable natural resources that gave us a sound economy that allow us to survive the pilferage,incompetency and inefficiency in the system.The biggest source of government funding comes from taxes and oil revenue.With falling global price of crude oil a big chunk of this revenue would be wiped out requiring the government to look for alternative source of financing for its budget.

If the world markets for crude oil and palm oil do not improve in the near future and with the decline in exports of manufactured goods the government would have a serious budget deficit.The liquidity problem is much more serious than those in government have anticipated.A near negative growth in the following year is not a far-fetched scenario.

China, now the second largest economy after the US, which have had double-digit growth the past few years will face a downturn in its economy soon.With two of the world largest economy slowing down there would be huge decline in demand of commodities including demand for crude oil.How long the recession would last is difficult to guess.Bail-outs in the US have not picked up momentum or showed any improvement to the economy.

Finance Minister and Prime Minister in waiting Najib Tun Razak would have to crack his head to find a solution to the problem.

A recent proposal to sell government assets to raise funds sounds impractical and would be easier said than done.Unless the government is prepared to sell these assets at very low prices there would be few takers.Those with money to buy would look for real bargain.Chances are it would go to cronies even at more depressed price.It would lose future income if income-generating assets are sold.Only loss-making corporations and non-income generating assets should be considered for sale.

Selling government controlled blue chips would be killing the goose that lay the golden eggs.The PM and Finance Minister should not agree to the sales of any of these golden assets in a depressed market.

Worst case scenario, the government may have to trim its development expenditure to reduce the budget deficit.

In October I predicted that the price of crude would fall to around US$50 per barrel before the end of the year in my post "Where Crude Oil Heading For" .The price had tumbled to US$55 in spite of OPEC cut in productions.This means that demand had gone down faster and bigger in volume than OPEC cut in production.

Prolonged period of depressed crude market would spell trouble for Petronas and the Malaysian government spending.

On a lighter note, I find Malaysian generally more interested in politics than the state of the economy.

The good news is prices of consumer goods would go down as well and consumers should be smart to avoid those businesses that are profiteering by not adjusting prices.

The Ugly Extortionists

Hantu Laut

Got back my Streamyx yesterday after one week of screaming obscenities at TmNet's talking machines.They have gone completely futuristic, you talk to a machine that talk endlessly about the company but can't understand your plea for help.This company is helmed by a bunch of jackasses.A typical trademark of government-linked companies.

On 11 October I wrote on the expected price decline of crude oil due to declining demand in global consumption brought about by the global recession.

In my article "Where Crude Oil Heading For" I predicted that price would fall below the US$50 per barrel before the end of the year.OPEC is now taking steps to cut down production to stabilise prices.

Many OPEC members were over-spending their windfall for the past 18 months on the assumption that oil price would stay at high level.The spending spree in some OPEC countries have been unashamedly financed by other consuming countries forced to pay ridiculously high price for one of the most essential commodities in the modern world without which it can bring untold human miseries and paralyse the world's industry.The high price have to certain degree played an important part in the global economic chaos.

OPEC accounts for 40% of global oil supply and can influence or control prices in a stable economic situation by cutting or increasing production output.In a severe economic downturn the law of supply and demand would decide the idle price the global market should pay.The picture is increasingly moving in that direction and OPEC are now trying to stop the price free fall with cut in production, which they will find increasingly difficult to control as the recession moves into high gear in other industrialised countries.There would be major decline in industrial output in India and China starting in the 1st quarter of 2009.

OPEC countries have benefited and compensated by the strengthening of the US Dollars the past few weeks.Price is now steadying at US$67 a barrel and would dip further as more bad news come out of the global economy.

Below is what I wrote in my earlier article:

"With increasingly high unemployment in the developed economies, industrial outputs are going to plummet to a low level and consumption of energy would likewise follow.

As more people lose their jobs, businesses going into bankruptcies and reduction in global industrial outputs the demand for oil would show a sharp decline.Consumption would continue to decline as long as the global economy continue to shrink which is expected to continue well into 2009.With reduced global demand prices are expected to fall below US$50 a barrel before the year ended.

If the global recession become hard-headed and carry on without any sign of recovery than prices may even drop below US$30 per barrel by the first-half of 2009."

The oil-producing countries have had it too good and have been totally inconsiderate to poorer countries by demanding ridiculous price for their oil.

I believe crude price should stay around the US$50 per barrel, a reasonable threshold for both oil-producers and the rest of the world.

Anything more is extortion.

Biased Malaysians

Hantu Laut

Many Malaysians were under the impression that it was wrong to take potshots during a debate.What Shabery Cheek did was not personal attack on Anwar's character, it was on past policies and practices when Anwar was one of the policymakers in government.Not exactly a wrong thing to do in a debate.

Watch the next American Presidental Debate and see whether you can pick out how many potshots the candidates throw at each other.

A full transcript of the third and final debate of US Presidential Election 2004 between George Bush(R) and John Kerry(D): is here.

It is not my job to defend Shabery Cheek but I do hope fellow bloggers in particular and Malaysians in general show some impartiality when making judgement and give credit where credit is due.

Anwar is a seasoned orator and should, undoubtedly, shines brighter than newcomer Shabery. Even with less experience and exposure I would say he has done pretty well.

Let us be honest how many politicians in this country would dare to participate in a debate on live TV. Many of them can't even read properly from a prepared text let alone go on live TV scriptless.Give him a few more years I am sure he would be just as good if not better than Anwar.

Such debate would be unthinkable under previous administration.

Anwar Playing To The Gallery

Hantu Laut,

There is no winner or loser in the debate last night.For a less experience politician Ahmad Shabery Cheek has done well against one of the country's most skilled orator.

It goes without saying that Anwar is a better polemicist and his speech is more memorable for its polemic rather than its substance.Anwar is not interested in facts and figures and as an experienced activist and politician he knew what his audience wanted to hear.He outshines Shabery in term of delivery and display of charisma.Anwar was more interested in playing to the gallery, his target audience the proletarian and the kampong folks.His figure of RM1 to 2 billion to subside reduction of fuel price is fancy mathematics to seduce the people to believe him, which he knew is untrue and grossly insufficient, a populist talk according to Shabery.

He failed to raise nuisance value against the government.

Shabery might have shocked most people with his hidden talent.Many have expected him to be eaten alive by Anwar.He came well-armed with facts and figures and reasons why government had no choice but to increase the price of oil.He tried to kill the myth that Malaysia is a substantial oil-producing country and have quoted Venezuela and Iran as countries that have the cheapest price of petrol but have double digit inflation.He,however, forgot to mention that even at the current price the government still subsidise part of the cost.Aside from taking cheap shots at Anwar, which was unnecessary, he had done well and came out unscathed.

Both came out well, Anwar may be the star but Shabery Cheek is the real surprise and a rising star.

The Petronas Mythbuster

Hantu Laut

Received in my email the letter below from a friend.

The letter was authored by an employee of Petronas who took it on himself to clarify the actual position and the inner workings of the organisation to counter the myth about the company.

I leave it to my readers to decide the veracity or mendacity of the story.

Dear all,

After reading all the chain mails and blogs, I feel called to reply, because of the relentless attacks and allegations -- most of which are inaccurate or baseless -- against PETRONAS.


PETRONAS' STAFF SALARY & BONUS
1) The salaries paid to PETRONAS' employees are not as high as people think. At best, they are just industry average. And these are not attractive enough for some who left PETRONAS to find work at other companies (mainly from the Middle East) which are willing to pay more. Why do they pay more? The oil and gas industry worldwide has been facing acute shortage of qualified or experienced personnel, so most companies are willing to pay lots of money to entice and pinch staff from their competitors.

Bonus? There has NEVER been a bonus amounting to 6 months or 12 months throughout the 33 years. On average, it is 2 months. But don't ever think we don't deserve it. We more than deserve it. A lot of us work really hard, some in the most extreme of conditions. Those who have been to and worked in northern Sudan, for example, would testify that it's like working in a huge blower oven. Southern Sudan, on the other hand, is almost all swamps and mud. Imagine having to go through that kind of heat, or waddling in muddy swamps, day in and day out.


QUALITY OF CRUDE & REFINED PRODUCTS
2) Malaysia produces about 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day (and about 100,000 barrels condensate). Of this crude volume, 339,000 barrels are refined locally for local consumption. The rest is exported (and yes, because it has lower sulphur content it fetches higher prices).

Malaysia also imports about 230,000 barrels of crude oil per day, mainly from the Middle East, to be refined here. This crude oil contains higher sulphur and is less expensive (so the country gains more by exporting our crudes). In Malaysia, this crude is processed by PETRONAS at its second refinery in Melaka, and also by Shell at its Port Dickson refinery.

Different refineries are built and configurated to refine different types of crude. And each crude type yields different percentage of products (diesel, gasoline, kerosene, cooking gas etc) per barrel.

But most importantly, products that come out at the end of the refining process have the same good quality regardless of the crude types. That's why PETRONAS, Shell and Exxon Mobil share the same pipeline to transport the finished products from their refineries to a distribution centre in the Klang Valley. The three companies collect the products at this centre accordingly to be distributed to their respective distribution networks. What makes PETRONAS' petrol different from Shell's, for example, is the additive that each company adds.


PETRONAS' ROLE, FUNCTION & CONTRIBUTION
3) A lot of people also do not understand the role and function of PETRONAS, which is essentially a company, a business entity, which operates on a commercial manner, to mainly generate income and value for its shareholder. In this case, PETRONAS' shareholder is the Government.

In 1974, when PETRONAS was set up, the Government gave PETRONAS RM10 million (peanuts, right?) as seed capital. From 1974 to 2007, PETRONAS made RM570 billion in accumulated profits, and returned to the Government a total of RM335.7 billion. That is about 65% of the profits. That means for every RM1 that PETRONAS makes, 65 sen goes back to the Government.

Last year, PETRONAS made a pre-tax profit of RM86.8 billion. The amount given back to the Government (in royalty, dividends, corporate income tax, petroleum products income tax and export duty) was RM52.3 billion. The rest of the profit was used to pay off minority interests and taxes in foreign countries (about RM7.8 billion - PETRONAS now operates in more than 30 countries), and the remaining RM26.7 billion was reinvested. The amount reinvested seems a lot, but the oil and gas industry is technology- and capital-intensive. Costs have gone up exponentially in the last couple of years. Previously, to drill a well, it cost about US$3 million; now it costs US$7 million. The use of rigs was US$200,000 a day a couple of years ago; now it costs US$600,000 a day.

A lot of people also do not realise that the amount returned by PETRONAS to the Government makes up 35% of the Government's total annual income, to be used by the Government for expenditures, development, operations, and yes, for the various subsidies. That means for every RM1 the Government makes, 35 sen is contributed by PETRONAS.

So, instead of asking what happens to PETRIONAS' money or profits, people should be questioning how the money paid by PETRONAS to the Government is allocated.


CRUDE EXPORTS & FUEL PRICES
4) A lot of people also ask, why Malaysia exports its crude oil. Shouldn't we just stop exporting and sell at cheaper prices to local refiners? If Malaysia is an oil exporting country, why can't we sell petrol or diesel at cheaper prices like other oil producing countries in the Middle East?

I guess I don't have to answer the first couple of questions. It's simple economics, and crude oil is a global commodity.

Why can't we sell petrol and diesel at lower prices like in the Middle East? Well, comparing Saudi Arabia and other big producers to Malaysia is like comparing kurma to durian, because these Middle Eastern countries have much, much, much bigger oil and gas reserves.

Malaysia has only 5.4 billion barrels of oil reserves, and about 89 trillion cubic feet of gas. Compare that to Saudi Arabia's 260 billion barrels of oil and 240 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Malaysia only produces 600,000 barrels per day of oil. Saudi Arabia produces 9 million barrels per day. At this rate, Saudi Arabia's crude oil sales revenue could amount to US$1.2 billion per day! At this rate, it can practically afford almost everything -- free education, healthcare, etc, and subsidies -- for its people.

But if we look at these countries closely, they have in the past few years started to come up with policies and strategies designed to prolong their reserves and diversify their income bases. In this sense, Malaysia (and PETRONAS) has had a good head start, as we have been doing this a long time.

Fuel prices in Malaysia is controlled by the Government based on a formula under the Automatic Pricing Mechanism introduced more than a couple of decades ago. It is under this mechanism that the complex calculation of prices is made, based on the actual cost of petrol or diesel, the operating costs, margin for dealers, margin for retail oil companies (including PETRONAS Dagangan Bhd) and the balancing number of duty or subsidy. No retail oil companies or dealers actually make money from the hike of the fuel prices. Oil companies pay for the products at market prices, but have to sell low, so the Government reimburses the difference -- thus subsidy.

Subsidy as a concept is OK as long as it benefits the really deserving segment of the population. But there has to be a limit to how much and how long the Government should bear and sustain subsidy. An environment where prices are kept artificially low indefinitely will not do anyone any good. That's why countries like Indonesia are more pro-active in removing subsidies. Even Vietnam (which is a socialist country, by the way) is selling fuel at market prices.


PETRONAS & TRANSPARENCY
5) I feel I also need to say something on the allegation that PETRONAS is not transparent in terms of its accounts, business transactions etc.

PETRONAS is first and foremost a company, operating under the rules and regulations of the authorities including the Registrar of Companies, and the Securities Commission and Bursa Malaysia for its listed four subsidiaries (PETRONAS Dagangan Bhd, PETRONAS Gas Bhd, MISC Bhd and KLCC Property Holdings Bhd.

PETRONAS the holding company produces annual reports which are made to whomever wants them, and are distributed to many parties and places; including to the library at the Parliament House for perusal and reading pleasure of all Yang Berhormat MPs (if they care to read). PETRONAS also makes the annual report available on its website, for those who bother to look. The accounts are duly audited.

The website also contains a lot of useful information, if people really care to find out. Although PETRONAS is not listed on Bursa Malaysia, for all intents and purposes, it could be considered a listed entity as its bonds and financial papers are traded overseas. This requires scrutiny from investors, and from rating agencies such as Standard & Poor and Moody's.


BOYCOTT PETRONAS?
6) The last time I checked, this is still a democratic country, where people are free to spend their money wherever they like.

For those who like to see more of the money that they spend go back to the local economy and benefiting their fellow Malaysians, perhaps they should consider sticking to local products or companies.

For those who like to see that the money they spend go back to foreign shareholders of the foreign companies overseas, they should continue buying foreign products.


FINAL WORD (FOR TODAY)
I'm sorry this is rather long, but I just have to convey it. I hope this would help some of you out there understand something. The oil and gas industry, apart from being very capital intensive, is also very complex and volatile. I'm learning new things almost every single day.


Appreciate if you could help to forward this response to as many contacts as possible to counter the subversive proposal out there.

Thank you.

Tan, Boon Hua
Geoscientist
Peninsular Malaysia Gas Fields Development Project
PETRONAS Carigali Sdn Bhd
Level 17, Tower 2
PETRONAS Twin Towers,
KLCC 50088 Kuala Lumpur
__________________________________________
Tel : +603 - 2331 9307
Fax : +603 - 2331 5633
E-mail : tan_boonhua@petronas.com.my

Anwar Ibrahim:Talking Cock

Hantu Laut

Many governments have to face the unpleasant fallout of the fuel crisis with prices of goods spiralling out of control festering discontent and labour unrest in the country.

In Spain and France thousands of truckers blocked roads over the rising prices of petrol and diesel.In Portugal and Spain long queues formed at supermarkets for fear of shops running out of fresh food due to truckers strike.The story were the same at petrol stations where long lines of motorists were waiting to fill up.In Madrid around 15% of petrol stations were dry a few days ago.

French truck drivers joined the protest and sealed off their side of the border and gridlocked with a go slow that caused 20 miles of tailbacks.In Britain 300 lorries are expected to converge on central London on 2nd July to protest the high price of fuel.There were protests and demonstrations in other parts the world over the high prices of petrol and diesel. Most governments have no choice but to increase prices.

Experts warned that the escalation in price has not ended and may climb to US$200 per barrel if there were no drastic reduction in consumptions.With the exception of OPEC members who can provide cheap fuel to the people, other countries including those highly developed economies, are worried that keeping the price low through subsidies would encourage consumers not to conserve and would lead to wastage and further price escalation and more money flowing to oil-producing countries with serious negative impact on the global economy.Increased consumption and some speculations had been the reasons behind the sharp rise in price.

Was speculation the cause of the unstoppable rise in the price of crude oil? Not so according to Adrians Binks of Argus Media Group, the largest independent energy news and price reporting agency.Binks may be right to certain extent but may not be exactly on the dot.Any commodity with futures market will attract some form of speculation and crude oil has futures for hedging just like many other commodities and would definitely attract some speculators with big appetite for big bucks.

One lucky investor who had, after a lot of research and a lot of thinking, eleven years ago decided that the long decline of oil price in the 1980s was about to end and acted on his conviction.Richard Rainwater of Texas plunked down $300 million of his own money on energy-company stocks and oil and gas futures.At the end of 1998 , the price of oil fell below US$10. per barrel and petrol sold for 90 c per gallon. Rainwater was getting poorer by the day while the Internet and dotcom were making billionaires.Then the dotcom bubble bursted and the price of oil climbed,climbed and climbed.A few weeks ago when the price of oil was at $129. Rainwater liquidated all his energy stocks and netted US$2 billion.He rises from No. 200 on Forbes 400 richest to No.91 with net worth of US$3.5 billion.

In the United States where people are more adapt to changing oil prices and are quick to change their lifestyle, the price of petrol hit the $4.00 per gallon or $0.95 per litre two days ago.Many Americans have abandoned their gas-guzzling SUVs in favour of smaller fuel-saving vehicles.The sales of SUVs and big capacity engine are expected to fall drastically in favour of hybrid and smaller cars.

In UK the price of petrol is around 117.9 p per litre, one of the highest in Europe. To top up a full tank,depending on size of cars, one would require between 100 to 130 pounds.For many Malaysians that's two-month petrol bill.

The most amazing country is Norway, the third largest exporter of crude oil in the world also has one of the highest price of petrol and diesel in the world.Its exports around 3 million barrel of crude oil per day.Since the discovery of oil and gas in the 1960s the country has been saving it oil and gas budget surpluses in a Government Petroleum Fund invested overseas now valued at over US$300 billion which is a whopping RM990 billion at current exchange and is still growing.Conservative estimates predicted the funds may reach US$800-900 billion by 2017.It is a net external creditor and has the second highest per capita in the world at US$53,037. (IMF).A nation once dependent only on its fishing industry and shipping fleet is now the richest nation on earth due to its prudent financial management and a government that stays clear of corruption.

Malaysians who used to be pampered by subsidised petrol and diesel were shocked and angry when the government announced a hefty increase in the prices of petrol and diesel last week. Long queues at petrol stations were seen throughout the nation as motorists rushed to top up their tanks before the midnight dateline.There were huge public outcry accusing the government of Abdullah Badawi as being uncaring and irresponsible.The oppositions political parties and former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad were quick to jump on the bandwagon and sent a flurry of attacks on Abdullah. Small and peaceful street protests were seen in the capital city, Kuala Lumpur.

The much touted prime minister in waiting Anwar Ibrahim said the price hike has made the prospect of Pakatan Rakyat taking over the federal government looking much brighter than before and oil price will be reduced as soon as Pakatan took over the government.He also said they will reduce the pump price for petrol even if the price of crude went above US$200 per barrel.

A very brave promise indeed, how is he going to do it and for how long is one big question mark.Is he a man of many words and would have little to offer when the time comes.I dreaded the day Anwar become prime minister and failed in his promises to the Malaysian people in general and Sabahans in particular.Say I am a pessimist but I can't foresee Anwar being able to deliver what he promised the Sabahans. You can't just give Sabah the 20% and ignore the other two states,Sarawak and Trengganu.

With the current price of oil Sabah would become a very rich state if it gets 20% royalty.Let's assume the production from Sabah is around 300,000 barrels per day.At current price of US$130 bbl the total sale a day would be US$39 million and annual gross sale of US$14.23 billion and at 20% on gross sale Sabah would be getting US$2.84 billion in royalties and at current exchange rate it worked out to be RM9.37 billion annually.

Malaysia consumes about 530,000 bbl/day of crude oil.Assuming the volume of petrol and diesel obtained after refining is 60%, its daily consumption is 50.5 million litre a day (see conversion table below).

If Anwar brings the price of petrol and diesel down to its former level of RM 1.92 and RM1.58 per litre respectively and at consumption of 50.5 million litre a day, the Malaysian government would have to fork out subsidy at various level as shown below:

Unit---- Per-------- Per
Sub---- Day --------Annum
sidy---- RM --------RM
--------------------------------
1.00---- 50.5 million 18.4 billion
1.50---- 75.7-------- 27.6
2.00---101.0--------36.8
2.50--- 126.2------- 46.0
3.00----151.5------- 55.3

After the recent price increase the government would still be subsidising about RM1.50 per litre which is around RM27 billion a year.

The consolidated profit of Petronas for the year ended 31 March 2007 was RM46.4 billion and shareholder's fund stood at RM170.9.Where is Anwar going to get his money to subsidise fuel to make fuel thirsty Malaysians happy.

The total Malaysia budget for 2008 was RM176.9 billion.Abdullah expects the budget deficit to narrow down to 3.1 % for the year.With higher energy price there would be some contraction in GDP growth in 2008 where manufacturers have to struggle with higher costs of production due to higher energy costs.

He boldly says he would continue the subsidy even if the price is above US$200 a barrel.A smart man that many Malaysians are very much in love with but who cares not about the nation as long as he stays popular. If the price of oil were to be at US$200 per barrel, it would roughly costs US$1.26 or RM4.10 to buy a litre of crude before adding cost of freight and refining costs.Has Anwar any idea what would be the eventual cost of the refined products.A table below shows the main products and other derivatives that a barrel of oil produces. Anwar promise could just be a pie in the sky.His act of mendacity to the Malaysian people is just abominable.

The lightning increase in the price of crude had taken many governments by surprise where the fundamentals of economic forecasts have gone out of the window leaving government planners flustered and in disarry.

The increases in price of petrol and diesel(2004-2008) in Malaysia is shown in the table below:


There were gradual increase between May 2004 and February 2006. The drastic increase between Feb 2006 and June 2008 was probably due to the sharp increase in the price of crude during the same period.

Between Feb 2006 to Oct 2006 the price of crude was fluctuating between US$54-68, breached the US$100 in April 2008 and climbed to over US$130 in May/June 2008.The government should have done one adjustment between Feb and Oct 2006 and a second adjustment in June this year.

Anwar wanted his Pakatan Rakyat to take over the federal government, if possible, through the back door.

Take a look at his Pakatan Rakyat in Selangor and Penang.They seemed more interested in witch hunting than getting down to serious work to administer the states.They delighted in digging into the sins of the previous administration rather than leaving it to discover in the course of doing their duty.

Facts and figures about crude oil:

1 barrel of crude = 42 U.S.gallon = 34.9 Imperial gallon = 158.9 litre

The table below shows what a typical barrel
of crude produces:

Product	Percent of Total
Finished Motor Gasoline	51.4%
Distillate Fuel Oil	15.3%
Jet Fuel	12.3%
Still Gas	5.4%
Marketable Coke	5.0%
Residual Fuel Oil	3.3%
Liquefied Refinery Gas	2.8%
Asphalt and Road Oil	1.7%
Other Refined Products	1.5%
Lubricants	0.9%

Bringing the price of petrol and diesel down would certainly endear the people to him but what price the nation would have to pay to make the people happy, Anwar popular and the nation broke.

A Recipe For All: Bad Move Pak Lah

Hantu Laut

I hope the next time the Prime Minister announces a price hike in petrol and diesel he would do it in the dead of night so those foolish and unreasonable Malaysians would be soundly asleep in their beds and would not become nuisance on the roads just to save a few ringgit causing inconvenience to others who have other more important things to do.

Last night, I had to sent my wife to her brother's house for a pre-wedding dinner she has to attend for the wedding of one of her nieces over the weekend.

We live in the outskirt about 30 km from town which normally takes about 30 minutes by car.

We left the house at about 7 p.m. without realising I have forgotten to top up my tank earlier in the day.I noticed I have less than a quarter tank and would need to top up at the nearest petrol station, which is about 5 km from my house. A kilometer before the station we had to slow down to a crawl, thinking it could be an accident ahead of us, we kind of say 'what to do' must be another one of those grisly Kancil.

We had no choice but to move at snail pace and hope it wouldn't be a long queue.As we near the station it dawned on me that it wasn't an accident but people queueing up to fill their tanks before the new price become effective after midnight.

There were cars,trucks,buses and motorbikes all over the place vying to beat each other to reach the pump first.I decided not to fill up and hope the next station wouldn't be so bad.

At the next station the queue was much longer but was more orderly, choking only the left lane and keeping the right lane of the highway free to moving traffic. I again decided not to fill up and hope for the best at the next one.Before I reached the next station my low fuel warning light had come on.

The next station was absolute mayhem, my six sense told me I have to get away from the place as quickly as possible before my car gave up on me.I turned to a coastal highway I knew didn't have any petrol station that is likely to choke up the highway.

Like godsend, I heard my wife said " Isn't your uncle's house about a kilometer from here, why don't you leave your car at his place and borrow his and return it later and take our car and top up later in the night after all those idiots have gone home".

Well, we did exactly that and by the time we got to her brother's the whole journey which normally took half an hour had taken us almost two hours.

Pak Lah, I am with you in removing the subsidy, but the next time you announce a price hike, please do it when we all are nicely tucked in our beds.

I don't agree with the cash handouts to motorcyclists and small powered car owners.It is too little to make any significant impact on the the lives of those who are in dire need of it to help them overcome the rising costs of living.Not all owners of car 2500 c.c.and below are poor.There are many Malaysians who own multiple cars.

Let assume in my household I own a Proton Wira 1500 c.c under my daughter's name, a Toyota HiLux 2500 c.c under my wife's name and a Porsche and Merc under my name. Do you think my family deserved to claim the handouts, which legally my daughter and my wife should be entitled to.

You be greatly mistaken if you think honesty is a virtue that many Malaysians possessed.

Subsidy should only be given to the poor and low income earner based on their income not on the type of car they drive.The low wage earner, fishermen and farmers are people more in dire need of help than a guy who earned RM4,000. per month and decides to use a Kancil or a car of less than 2500 c.c.

You need less amount of subsidy and would help more of those who deservedly in need of help if a different formula had been used.

Really don't know who are your economic advisers. One day you banned foreign cars from filling up, next day, whosh! no more ban.

What's going on.Are we in la-la land ?