Petrol Malaysia

Dear Reader, Until 2010, Petronas, Malaysia's state-owned petrol company, was helmed by Tan Sri Hassan Marican. After having left Petronas, Tan Sri Hassan was appointed to Singapore's Sembcorp Industries on that same year. Recently, The Malaysian Insider reported that Tan Sri Hassan Marican has been appointed to the board of several Singapore government-linked companies and will be appointed to head Singapore Power Limited (SP) in June this year. KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — Ex-Petronas CEO Tan Sri Hassan Marican is set to become chairman of Singapore Power Limited (SP) in June succeeding Ng Kee Choe who will retire on June 12, according to Energy Asia. The news portal that focuses on the energy industry reported this yesterday, citing the island republic’s utility giant. Marican, who left the national oil company at the beginning of 2010 allegedly due to friction with the Najib administration, has been accepting directorships with several foreign firms in the energy sector. ...

Dear Reader, Crude Oil A very good weekend to you. Before we commence our discussion, we first touch upon the price of crude oil. Today, the price of crude oil is, according to various sources: USD78 per barrel on 15th January 2010 (Ref: Wall Street Journal, 15th Jan. 2010. Update: Oil futures: Crude drops to $78/Bbl on Weak Econ Data .) USD78 per barrel on 14th January 2010 (Ref: CNN, 14 Jan. 2010. Oil slides as weather warms, stocks slide .) USD78 per barrel for February futures at the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and USD77.11 per barrel for March delivery at London (Ref: Reuters, 15th January 2010. NYMEX - Crude down 5th day as cold eases, dollar up .) According to the Wall Street Journal ( ibid. ), the latest US economic data shows demand for energy is slowing down, perhaps an indication the American economy recovery is slowing down. Energy stockpiles are rising despite projections that colder weather would bump up fuel consumption to generate heat. Experts have ide...

While browsing about the Internet today I was curious about the state of car pooling in Malaysia. Car pooling is also known as ride sharing. Car pooling is the act of several individuals using the same vehicle at the same time to get from one point to another. For obvious reasons, car pooling works best in the "get to work" commute, and back. But there is nothing to stop individuals from sharing a ride for a different kind of commute, e.g. four individuals who want to go to Penang from KL can always share a ride. A few years ago the Government suggested that all vehicles entering the city center (Kuala Lumpur) should be charged a toll, and the toll would depend on whether the car was on car pool. That phase engendered some funny comments from an uncle of mine who joked that I might like to buy an inflatable doll (I can't mention the type) to put on the appearance of car pooling! Fancy that ... an inflatable doll of unmentionable proportions being my comrade of commutes.  ...