Chua said it is a disgrace that after 24 years, the Fund only has RM5.43 billion, as revealed by prime minister Najib Razak in parliament last year.
As such, he questioned why the government had yet to establish any oil-based fund as is the practice of oil-producing states around the world.
"My biggest beef with the BN federal government is this: Why is there no oil-based Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF) for Malaysia?
"Malaysia is the 27th largest oil producer in the world, rolling out 693,700 bbl/day," Chua said in a statement emailed to Harakahdaily.
He also questioned the meagre payment of RM100 million by giant national oil company Petronas since 1988.
"Where has Petronas’ trillions of ringgit in revenue over the past 38 years gone to? Did Petronas’ oil and gas exploration presence in 32 countries outside Malaysia contribute or help facilitate the bulk of RM1.08 trillion in capital flight in the last decade?" he asked.
Chua said it was boggling that with such huge oil wealth, Malaysia’s national debt stands at RM502.4 billion or 1.3% short of the 55% legislated debt ceiling. -HD
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Where is our sovereign fund from oil wealth?'
About sabahdaily
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak today announced that Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd and Lundin Oil have jointly discovered additional oil reserves, under a production sharing contract, (PSC) at Block PM 307 of the Bertam oilfield.
ReplyDeleteHe said the oil field, located 160 kilometres offshore Peninsular Malaysia, is opposite the state of Pahang at the depth of 76 metres.
ReplyDeletePM 307 PSC is operated by Lundin Malaysia which holds a 75 per cent interest and Petronas holds the remaining equity.
ReplyDelete“This is very significant because we never discovered oil in commercial quantity at Penyu Basin and this is a major breakthrough. Based on the findings of commercial and technical feasibility studies, crude oil production will begin at the oil field in the third quarter of 2014 with a projected output of between 17,500 and 20,000 barrels per day,” Najib told
ReplyDeleteThe Prime Minister said with the additional discovery, the Bertam oilfield is estimated to have oil reserves of 64 million barrels.
ReplyDeleteNajib, who is Finance Minister, said Pahang was expected to receive a special payment of RM100 million a year, once production begins in the third quarter of 2014.
ReplyDelete“This discovery proved there is oil and gas at the Southern region of the Malay Basin towards the Penyu Basin. The oilfield is located on the continent shelf which is under the jurisdiction of the Federal government. This is our policy to distribute oil wealth with five per cent cash payment to Pahang,” he added.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Ramlan A Malek, Vice-President, Petronas Nasional Bhd, Exploration & Production Business, Petroleum Management said the commercial and technical feasibility studies were expected to be completed in the second quarter of next year. He also said this was the first oil discovery in the Pahang state.
ReplyDeleteSabah’s oil and gas industry is set for a big step forward when five key projects of Petronas in Sabah come onstream this year.
ReplyDeleteThese projects, which were announced about two years back, are progressing well and achieving targeted milestones in their implementation, according to Petronas Sabah and Labuan chairman Joseph Podtung.
ReplyDeleteThe five projects are Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT), Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline (SSGP), Kimanis Power Plant (KPP), Kimanis Petroleum Training Centre (KTC) and Kinabalu Non Associated Gas (NAG) upstream development.
ReplyDeleteMost of the projects of Patronas are expected to be completed within this year while some may begin operations early 2014, Joseph said.
ReplyDelete“These projects, many of which are world-scale, are part of Petronas’ overall plan to optimise the value of the oil and gas resources found offshore Sabah,” he said.
ReplyDeleteIn 2011, Petronas announced a host of projects, both upstream and downstream, involving a combined capital expenditure of RM45 billion, he said.
ReplyDeleteJoseph disclosed that the RM3.8 billion SOGT project in Kimanis, which is an onshore oil and gas receiving, storage, processing and export terminal, will receive the resources via subsea pipelines from three offshore upstream projects – Gumusut-Kakap, Kababangan and Kinabalu NAG.
ReplyDeleteIts common utilities and facilities to receive gas are expected to be ready in the third quarter this year and will begin receiving oil in the first quarter of 2014.
ReplyDeleteOnce fully completed, the SOGT will have a capacity of 260,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, 1,250 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of natural gas and 77,000 bpd of condensates.
ReplyDelete“The RM4.6 billion SSGP is expected to be ready by end of this year. The construction of the Sabah’s side of 512 kilometres pipeline, involving a length of 92km, has been completed,” Joseph said.
ReplyDeleteHe said the first block of the 300 Megawatts (MW) KPP that involves a total investment of RM1.55 billion, is expected to be ready by the third quarter of this year, while the other two blocks are expected to be completed in the first and second quarter of 2014 respectively.
ReplyDeleteThe RM30.5 million permanent campus of KTC, located just across the SOGT, will be completed in the second quarter of this year. Currently, its trainees are trained at a temporary premises in Membakut Jaya, and have benefited 48 Sabahans.
ReplyDeleteJoseph said KTC augmented Petronas’ existing training efforts in collaboration with five institutions in the state, namely Institut Kemahiran Mara, Institut Latihan Perindustrian and Kolej Yayasan Sabah, all based in the state capital, as well as GiatMARA in Kimanis and Institut Teknikal dan Perdagangan in Papar.
ReplyDeleteBetween 2009 and 2011, Petronas awarded 45 contracts worth RM1.07 billion to Sabah companies, of which over 20 state-based companies participated in SOGT and SSGP projects, Joseph said.
ReplyDeleteThe people have benefited greatly from the Government’s national transformation policy which has seen family income grow from RM4,025 in 2009 to RM5,000 a month in four years, says Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
ReplyDeleteUnveiling a glowing report card that listed achievements since he took office in April 2009, the Prime Minister stressed on the importance of the nation having an effective government that delivers on its promises to the rakyat.
ReplyDeleteThe Government had also launched the Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia to provide affordable housing and Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia to ensure essential goods could be bought at lower prices.
ReplyDelete