SHAH ALAM: The thickening veil of secrecy shrouding Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), its “never ever tabled accounts”, the existence of middlemen brokers and a doggedly determined opposition are prying open Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s grip on the national oil corporation.
The latest challenge to Najib to table Petronas’ financial reports in Parliament comes from former Deputy Land and Cooperative Development Minister Tan Kee Kwong.
"I, as a member of the Public Accounts Committee, had once urged the Second Finance Minister to scrutinise Petronas’s financial report, but his vague response to me was that he was only in charge of the Finance Ministry and that Petronas came directly under the Prime Minister’s Department.
"Since that is the case, I want to ask the Prime Minister, Umno and the entire Cabinet why can't the public study Petronas’ financial report and accounts? Why, why, why?
“If the government is not brave enough to table Petronas' financial report for fear of public scrutiny, it can only mean that it is afraid.
“And that means the government has a huge secret to hide with regard to Petronas’ accounts,” Tan said, adding that the situation was not acceptable anymore.
Tan said although Petronas was a well-managed government-linked company which contributed about 40% to the country’s annual budget, neither its auditor’s nor its financial reports were ever tabled in Parliament.
Open market
He also raised Petronas’s practice of using option holders or middlemen to sell its crude oil within Malaysia and abroad.
"If this is true, I would like to ask Petronas why can’t it sell the oil directly on the open market.”
“I am given to understand that Petronas is forced to sell to option holders at a low fixed price because it is bound by a long-term contract.”
"For example, the contract states that Petronas must sell its crude oil at US$40 a barrel while the global market pushed the price to US$75 a barrel.
“Based on this, the option holder enjoys a staggering profit of RM35 per barrel and Petronas barely anything.
“If the price per barrel hits US$100, then the commission rate would surely rise further and be much better than what the government paid for the two French submarines.
“This is how our country loses money daily,” said the PKR supreme council member.
Tan also wants Petronas chairman Shamsul Azhar Abbas to confirm if indeed Petronas practised the system of using option holders to sell crude oil.
“If so, then why is Petronas not selling direct and who are the existing option holders and how much of raw oil is being sold (to and through them)? Also, how long has the system been in place?” he asked.
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