Petrol Malaysia

The incident at Setapak Indah involved a 25 year old lady teacher from Batu Caves. Source: The Sun Daily Setapak Indah: 25 year old victim On 28th June 2016, a 25 year old woman "suffered serious burns all over her body at a petrol station in Setapak Indah ... after she took a call on her handphone inside her carwhile filling it up with petrol. An explosive burst of flames lasting just a second was all it took to severely torch the teacher from Batu Caves." (Source: The Sun, 29th June, 2016. Page 3) The incident occurred at about 1.25pm. Firemen arrived in 10 minutes to find the lady in "a semi-conscious state in the rear passenger seat". She had suffered from 60% burns all over her body. The woman had been seen filling up her car when her cellphone (on the rear passenger seat) rang. She locked the fuel nozzle trigger and entered the car to answer the call. She closed the door and picked up the call. Immediately, there was a loud explosion and flame...

And It's A Law! Did you know that petrol stations must have sufficient fuel? If they run out of fuel supply, they must order more. This may not be a big thing in Kuala Lumpur, but imagine what happens in the more remote areas of the country! The scenario goes like this: Petrol prices are falling (they have been falling for a few months), and it's the last day of the month, maybe half a day to the next month. The petrol station owner is sorely tempted not  to refill his station because he knows, if he orders fuel today, and fills his tanks, within 12 hours the oil in the storage tanks would be worth less than he paid for them. Because oil prices are falling, whatever he pays for oil today is more than what he would pay tomorrow (i.e. the next month). So should the petrol station refill? In Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley in general (including Petaling Jaya), it might not be an issue. Just drive ten minutes and voila! There's another petrol station. But let's im...

While I was browsing my Google Plus timeline, I came across this. Apparently in Japan and Korea, petrol pumps hang from the ceiling. This solves the issue of parking your car just right so that the pump is located next to where you pump the petrol i.e. the fuel filler cap or petrol cap. I once read from a book, car manufacturers make cars with their petrol caps on left and on the right so as to make sure that petrol stations won't have people queueing up for petrol pumps of a certain sort only. For example if all cars had their petrol caps on the left, drivers would want to park on the right of the fuel pump so as to fill up their car fuel tanks. Lefts and rights are all right as a solution when petrol pumps are located at chest level -- you need to pull them over to the petrol cap, and the closer the petrol cap is to the pump, the better. However, if petrol pumps hang from the ceiling, the issue of which side is the "right side" would not even come up. Here are ...

In 2010, a judge in California, USA, upheld the state's fire marshal's order for the removal of hold-open latch to be removed from nozzles manufactured by Vapor System Technologies LLC. The state's fire marshal, which is affiliated to the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, deemed the defective nozzles to be a fire hazard. Apparently, a manufacturing defect in VST's nozzles caused 13 incidents where petrol has been sprayed (at the nozzle) before the nozzle was inserted into the vehicle. This happened because the hold-open latch did not disengage after earlier customers used the petrol pump. The fire marshal's order affected some 3,000 petrol stations in the state of California. The good news was that the fire marshal was working with VST and other petrol nozzle manufacturers to replace the defective VST nozzles with new, safer petrol nozzles with hold-open latches. (At least, that's what the circular dated 23rd August 2010 said.) Customers who were...

Herman Sihas was a petrol station worker, but he was also a selfless hero. Shortly after the new year, Herman Sihas, a petrol pump worker in Sarawak, lost his life while trying to save a drowning form 6 student, Kho Ying Qi. It was a rainy January morning in Kuching when monsoon drains and the river swelled with flood waters. School was called off for the day. Ying Qi's car stalled as she drove in the heavy rain, and she walked to the nearby petrol station to get help. She fell into a monsoon drain, which was heavily flooded. It was then that petrol station worker, who saw the scene, rushed out to her rescue. He jumped into the waters to save Ying Qi, but unfortunately lost his life. Herman's body was found two days later. Ying Qi's body was found more than two weeks later. Herman Sihas was a Bidayuh Salako. He grew up with his family in Kampung Jangkar, Lundu, and obtained his secondary school education in Peninsular Malaysia. He returned to Sarawak several years ag...

Recently, it was reported that a petrol kiosk in Miri was discovered to dispense 14% less fuel than stated on its meter. This was discovered by the officers of Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism (MDTCC) and Metrology Corporation Malaysia (MCM) Sdn Bhd during a routine check. This is an offence under section 30(1) of the Weights and Measures Act 1972, punishable by fine of up to RM250,000-00 for firms and RM15,000-00 for individuals. The petrol station was closed until calibrations, which take half a day, are completed. Each pump or nozzle calibrated will cost the petrol station owner RM104.60. (Source: Borneo Post Online, 28th January 2012. Short-changed by petrol kiosk . URL:  http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/01/28/short-changed-by-petrol-kiosk/ ) Shortly after that, state MDTCC director Wan Ahmad Uzir Wan Sulaiman was reported saying that MDTCC will conduct surprise checks at all petrol stations, due to the shocking discovery of 19 tampered fuel pum...

Dear Reader, You may have heard that by letting the petrol fill your car more slowly, you will get more petrol. This means pressing the nozzle trigger halfway, instead of all the way. For those petrol nozzles with latches (usually three) you are able to latch the trigger so that the petrol can flow into your car engine even while you are not tending to the nozzle. Some people complain that having latches on petrol nozzles poses a risk, in that the latch may become stuck. As a result, once the petrol nozzle is removed from the petrol pump, petrol flows immediately, uncontrolled. Even though the latches are required in some states, people have recommended removing the latches for prevention of problems like the type mentioned. (For example, see this article .) Many writers suggest that we should use the first lever for the latch, i.e. the minimum to keep the petrol nozzle flowing. This reduces the flow of the petrol and theoretically gives you more petrol. My complaint is that in...

According to Bernama, our Deputy Prime Minister, Muhyidding Yassin was reported to have said in a speech last night that almost 70 per cent of petrol stations in Malaysia are being successfully operated by Bumiputeras due to the initiative and efforts taken by the government.". (Ref: Bernama, 6th November 2009. 70 Per Cent Of Petrol Stations Operated By Bumiputera, Says Muhyiddin ) As a departure from my usual style, the complete news report is reproduced below. 70 Per Cent Of Petrol Stations Operated By Bumiputera, Says Muhyiddin KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 (Bernama) -- Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said almost 70 per cent of petrol stations in Malaysia are being successfully operated by Bumiputeras due to the initiative and efforts taken by the government. The government has been carrying out a more streamlined license distribution system in line with the Petroleum Development Act, he said. He said the government has been aware of the many challenges faced by th...

In an earlier post , we looked at how filling a metal container on a vehicle (e.g. a truck) can lead to a build up of static electricity. The static electricity cannot be discharged when it is on the vehicle. As a result, a build up of static of electricity ensues. When another element is nearby, the static electricity build up may become discharged. It is common in the discharge of static electricity that a spark is formed. When a spark is in the vicinity of petrol vapours, the petrol vapours may become ignited. Static electricity is an everyday occurrence. To understand the phenomena of static electricity, one should understand that atoms, the basic building blocks of the universe, are composed of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Protons are positively charged, and sit in the center of the atom with the neutrons, forming what is known as the "nucleus". Electrons orbit the nucleus. Electrons are negatively charged. When two objects come into contact, electrons may move fr...

If you ever look at the warning plaque which is mounted on the wall, next to many petrol pumps, you would notice that there are warnings about: (a) mobile phones and electronic devices; (b) static electricity; (c) no smoking; (d) turning off the engine; (e) filling portable containers in the ground; and (f) not removing the nozzle if a fire starts. That last warning about a fire starting, should have been a clue as to why we need to heed these warnings. Here is a picture of an example warning plaque: There are some people who think that you should not re-enter the vehicle while filling up on petrol. Here is a video of one such incident where a woman re-entered her car while filling up (at 0:45). Observe how the pump caught fire when she touched it (at 1:03). In another incident, a Shell truck carrying petrol caught fire when one of its staff decided to illuminate a portion with his mobile phone. (Observe at 1:22) Both these videos are undated and can be found on YouTube, th...

British Petroleum's green petrol stations were once upon a time all over Malaysia. Starting in February 2005, all of the green slowly became orange, and the august logo "BP" became replaced with a more modern looking "BHPetrol". If the old logo looked like a school badge, the new logo looked like a Web 2.0 logo. It was a rebranding process, to reflect the takeover of BP Malaysia Sdn Bhd. Thirty per cent of the company was held by Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera, while the remaining seventy per cent was held by LTAT's subsidiary company, Boustead Holding Bhd. Thus, Boustead Holding Berhad came to change the name of BP Malaysia Sdn Bhd to Boustead Petroleum Marketing (M) Sdn Bhd. (Source: BHPetrol News and Media Archives. Boustead to rebrand BP Stations .) The whole matter began in 2004 when BP Malaysia and LTAT concluded talks to sell BP's 70% stake in BP Malaysia Sdn Bhd to LTAT. (Ref: Gulf Oil and Gas, 3rd January 2004. LTAT To Purchase BP's Shareho...