Let’s update the chart which Ong Eu Soon prepared: Petrol price Global crude RM/litre US$/barrel 01/10/00 1.20 35 20/10/01 1.30 20 01/05/02 1.32 26 31/10/02 1.33 28 01/03/03 1.35 31 01/05/04 1.37 38 01/10/04 1.42 47 05/05/05 1.52 48 30/07/05 1.62 57 26/02/06 1.92 63 05/06/08 2.70 120 17/11/08 2.00 55 2/12/08 1.90 48
“Why solar? L.A. enjoys 276 days of sunshine a year, according to the mayor’s office. Solar would also help cut down on the city’s notorious smog.” Well, why don’t we seriously consider solar? If Los Angeles can move towards solar – the city is aiming for 35 per cent of its energy from renewables – there is no reason Malaysia can’t move in that direction now. If we start now, we can pre-empt any move towards nuclear power plants, which, knowing our maintenance culture, would be a disaster waiting to happen.
Okay, you tell me what the local petrol price should be now, bearing in mind that they have removed subsidies completely now. Of course, we also need to factor in the need to conserve scarce fossil fuels. I think RM1.80 without any subsidy would be a more acceptable price now, taking into account the need to bring down food prices and stimulate the local economy while trying to encourage fossil fuel oil conservation and prevent wastage at the same time. Thanks to Ong Eu Soon for compiling this chart: Petrol price Global crude RM/litre US$/barrel 01/10/00 1.20 35 20/10/01 1.30 20 01/05/02 1.32 26 31/10/02 1.33 28 01/03/03 1.35 31 01/05/04 1.37 38 01/10/04 1.42 47 05/05/05 1.52 48 30/07/05 1.62 57 26/02/06 1.92 63 05/06/08 2.70 120 17/11/08 2.00 55
I think it’s about time we slashed the petrol price, don’t you think? When the price of petrol was increased from RM1.92 to RM2.70 – a hike of 41 per cent – on 5 June, the price of Nymex Light Sweet Crude was around US$125 per barrel (on 4-5 June). The current oil price is around US$56/barrel, which is less than half of what it was at the time. And yet, after three four reductions, our petrol price is still RM2.30 2.15 – nowhere near the RM1.92/litre of 5 June, when the price was US$125. Even if we take the price of RM2.70 at 5 June, a 50 per cent reduction in line with global prices would be RM1.35/litre – certainly not more than RM1.90. It’s time for a sharp drop in pump prices. But the most we can expect from this government is a 15-sen reduction to RM2.15 2.00/litre, [Read more]
RM3 billion of your EPF money has been lent for the Bakun Dam project (Photo credit: Raymond Abin/IPS) This news report below doesn’t sound good. The Tenaga Nasional Bhd CEO is saying that government support is needed for the Bakun Dam to be economically feasible. Is this a request for a bailout? Remember, we already have more than a 40 per cent electricity reserve margin in the peninsula, and more dams are supposed to sprout like mushrooms in Sarawak. Remember, they have already borrowed RM3 billion from the EPF and RM0.4 billion from the Pension Trust Fund for Bakun. Does that mean they have already lent your EPF money for a project that will not be feasible without government support? Then there’s the whole question of the viability of the Bakun Dam, seeing how even the dam catchment areas have been logged or degraded. And they still want to build [Read more]