Petrol Malaysia

At about 6.45pm, on the 17th of August 2008, a fire broke out at a 16,000 tonne gasoline tank located at the Tanjung Langsat Port in Johor. The tank was leased to Trafigura Pte Ltd, a Swiss company. The fire caused an inferno with billowing black smoke which was visible miles away. The police could not identify the cause of the fire but ruled out the possibility of sabotage. On the following day, the fire worsened, spreading to an adjecent tank. At about 7.10pm on the 18th of August 2008, the adjecent tank, containing about 8,000 cubic metres of inflammable napthalene, ignited from overheating. The contents of six other nearby tanks, containing naptha, gasoline and methyl tertiary butyl ether, were relocated to contain the fire. On the 19th of August, 2008, the fire department resorted to high pressured water pumps ("hydro subs") to draw water from the sea to cool the tanks. The fire at the first tank, containing unleaded gasoline, was being contained by using foam floodi...

The price of petrol has been reduced by 15 sen. To be exact, the Malaysian Government has, effective 23rd of August 2008, lowered the price of petrol by the following amounts: RON97 petrol is now RM2.55 per litre (15 sen reduction) RON92 petrol is now RM2.40 per litre (22 sen reduction) Diesel is now RM2.50 per litre (8 sen reduction) The front page headliner from The Star newspaper on 23rd August 2008 entitled "15 Sen Down", quoted Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi saying that the move was to help ease the people's burden. On page 4 of the same newspaper, PM Abdullah Badawi is quoted saying that the implementation of the "floating" price mechanism was brought forward after Cabinet considered the drop in oil prices in recent weeks and the increased inflation rate in July. (Article headline in newspaper: "Cut Comes 10 Days Early". However, the online version is entitled "Government Decides To Bring Forward Floating Price Mechani...

An AFP report quotes Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi saying on 2nd August 2008 that Malaysia will, commencing September 2008, "introduce a new system linking domestic fuel prices to the global market, but will cap prices at their current levels". This is in keeping with the falling cost of petrol. Global petrol prices peaked at USD140 per barrel but have since fallen. (To be sure, OPEC records that the world price of petrol stood at USD140.73 on 3rd July 2008 and is presently USD114.64 per barrel as of 6th of August 2008. This figure is debateable because OPEC calculates the price of petrol based on a basket of prices. The AFP report, in fact, states that the prices of petrol hit a high of USD147/= in July 2008.) To summarize, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi stated: Petrol prices would continue to be subsidised at the rate of RM0.30 per litre The price of petrol would be fixed on the 1st day of each month based on the monthly average This price would not exceed the prese...