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M'sia-Brunei deal: Make Cabinet minutes public

Abdullah Badawi says he obtained Cabinet approval before going ahead with the deal with Brunei. So the government should now make public the minutes of the Cabinet discussion and decision.

Abdullah also needs to explain why this matter was not brought to Parliament for a thorough debate as this involves a question of sovereignty and energy supply.

Najib too has to clarify and explain the rationale for the deal. After all, he was Number Two to Abdullah back then and on the threshold of becoming premier. Was he among those in the Cabinet who approved the deal? If, as he says, both countries are still negotiating, why have the two blocks already been given up?

Murphy Oil's interests terminated

Reports say that Petronas has terminated production sharing contracts in two blocks as the areas are “no longer a part of Malaysia”.

See a Reuters report here and an Edge report here.

Murphy Oil was informed by Petronas that the two blocks are no longer a part of the country following an agreement between Malaysia and Brunei, according to the Oil and Gas Journal.

Ku Li says no 3-mile limit for offshore oil royalty

Refuting a government ad blitz, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah insists that oil-producing states are entitled to a 5 per cent payment on all oil extracted, whether onshore or offshore.

There is no such thing as a 3-nautical mile limit, he writes in his latest blog entry.

The Information Ministry’s full page advertisements in the major Malay newspapers had argued that Kelantan has no right to oil payments under the Petroleum Development Act because its oil resources fall outside the 3-nautical mile limit that delimits state versus federal jurisdictions.

Razaleigh counters:

The advertisement fails to point out that almost all the oil found in Malaysia is located more than 3 nautical miles offshore, and Petronas has nevertheless been making oil payments to the states. By the argument deployed in the advertisement, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak too are not entitled to the “cash payments” of 5% of profit oil (commonly and a little inaccurately referred to as “oil royalties”). Everything is at the arbitrary behest of the Federal Government.

Oil wealth: Blessing or curse?

When Tengku Razaleigh started Petronas in 1974, little did he realise he would live to see the day he would wish the country had not discovered its oil bounty.

Our nation is blessed with a modest quantity of oil reserves. As a young nation coming to terms with this natural bounty in the early 1970’s, our primary thought was to conserve that oil. That is why, when Petronas was formed, we instituted the Petroleum Development Council. Its function was to advise the PM on how to conserve that oil and use it judicially for national development. We knew our reserves would not last long.

We saw our oil reserves as an unearned bounty that would provide the money for modernization and technology. We saw our oil within a developmental perspective. Our struggle then, was to make the leap from an economy based on commodities and low cost assembly and manufacture to a more diverse, economy based on high income jobs.

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Labuan residents suffer as taps run dry

Is this a sign of things to come as our planet contends with water shortages aggravated by competing demand from the public and demand from industry (to cater to ever-increasing production of consumer goods, which in turn requires more raw materials)?

Why haven’t we heard more about the Labuan water shortages? Some 80,000 Labuan residents, including 4,000 students, have been faced with a serious water shortage since July.

Bernama reports that demand for water in Labuan is about 56 million litres a day but supply (from the mainland) is only at 42 million litres, a shortfall of 25 per cent. But 10 million litres (about a quarter) of the water supply is consumed by Petronas’ mega methanol plant (photo here).

And the people suffer.

anilnetto.com

M'sia-Brunei deal: Make Cabinet minutes public

Murphy Oil's interests terminated

Ku Li says no 3-mile limit for offshore oil royalty

Oil wealth: Blessing or curse?

Labuan residents suffer as taps run dry

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