Blog Series Glossary About Subscribe
June 8, 2018 · 1 min read

A letter quoted in full about Petronas

Tom KirkmanIndependent Project Manager

Letter quoted in full:
================

“Founded in 1974, Petronas manages the country’s oil and gas industry and is rated by Forbes as one of the biggest corporations in the world.

It is wholly government-owned and makes billions but its accounts are shrouded in secrecy and only the incumbent Prime Minister is privy to them.

Petronas is a national asset and the Government needs the dividends and tax to finance its expenditure, yet there is no transparency or disclosure of its accounts. It should no longer be secret and the accounts must be made accountable to Parliament.

To epitomise the new regime’s determination to return power to the people and be transparent, this valuable asset must receive priority to be scrutinised and audited.”

Read more at thestar.com.my ↗

thestar.com.my ↗

FROM THE THREAD

Tom's notes 2

  1. Tom Kirkman

    "what's so secretive about it?

    Perhaps you could be so kind as to answer me this:

    In March 2015, Petronas raised USD $5 billion via Sukuk (Islamic bonds).
    How was this $5 billion spent?

    Petronas only gave a vague answer of "operational expenses".

    2 years ago, I asked this question to Dr. Mahathir (he was previously the Petronas Advisor) and he could not answer my question.

    Can you answer my question?

    Do you now better understand why there is a call for increased transparency in Petronas financials?

  2. Tom Kirkman

    Mohd Faiz Ariff Hadid
    2 of my questions back in March 2016:

    Question:
    ● The current Prime Minister is also the Finance Minister, and also the head of 1MDB, the government’s financial investment company.
    ● Petronas reports directly to the Prime Minister's Office.
    ● The Chairman of Petronas is also on the Board of Advisors of 1MDB.
    ● In March 2015, Petronas raised USD $5 billion via Sukuk (Islamic bonds).
    ● Was this USD $5 billion raised by Petronas related to 1MDB debts?

    Dr. Mahathir:
    I cannot say for sure. But what happened with 1MDB is that, initially, it wanted to access the Terengganu royalty given to the state of Terengganu. ...

    Question:
    The USD $5 billion raised by Islamic bonds 1 year ago by Petronas, how was it actually spent? Petronas only gave a vague answer of “operational expenses”. What was it used for, and why did they feel the need to borrow $5 billion dollars?

    Dr. Mahathir:
    I think when the government demanded Petronas to give them more by way of dividend. And they said they need the money for their operations, and the government said you borrow the money, because we can’t borrow, you borrow. So indirectly, Petronas has to support the government, because the government is in debt, and is having trouble.

Keep reading

Select all images with a boatSelect all images with a boat.Read post →Winter is comingWinter is comingRead post →I’m trolling the person who hijacked my phoneI am literally chatting on my phone right now with the person who hijacked my phone. He can write stuff on my phone and also delete…Read post →

Enjoyed that?
Get the next one.

New posts on energy, projects and Weekend Science — straight to your inbox, without the algorithm.