Petronas revenue under scrutiny

Machang MP Saifuddin Nasution says national oil company had given out RM431 billion to the government since 1974 but the latter had failed to create new sources of income from the funds.

KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas had allocated a whopping RM431 billion to the government since its inception in 1974, said Machang MP Saifuddin Nasution.

Saifuddin also said that RM236 billion from the amount was given to the government between 2006 and 2009, during the premiership of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

“It’s a whopping 55% of the entire total but the government failed to use the funds to come up with new sources of income,” he claimed.

With its oil output reducing over the years, Saifuddin said Petronas had no choice but to propose reducing its dividend to the government from RM30 billion to RM28 billion annually.

“For example, in March 2010 we produced 1.63 million barrels but last year it was reduced to 1.61 million,” he said.

Yesterday, Business Times reported Petronas CEO Shamsul Azhar Abbas as saying that it plans to reduce its annual dividend to RM28 billion from RM30 billion to reverse a production slump.

“We need to grow. Energy reserve is not finite, it will deplete. You can’t be sucking us dry,” Shamsul reportedly told the business magazine.

He questioned why Petronas only allocated 21% of its revenue for reinvestment when other oil and gas players such as Shell, Sinopech and BHP allocate between 52% and 77%.

“It’s a question of sustainability for our future. Would our future generation be able to enjoy the revenue from oil and gas sector at the rate we are going?”he asked.

On Petronas’ foreign investment, Saifuddin questioned the national oil company’s rationale to focus one-third of its revenue in Sudan.

“The country has broken into two and is politically unstable. Is our investment there safe?” he asked.