Petrol Malaysia

1st February 2009 is Federal Territories Day, or better known as Hari Wilayah Persekutuan. It is a public holiday, but since it falls on a Sunday this year, tomorrow will be a public holiday. The Federal Territories in Malaysia consist of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan. Of the three, Putrajaya has been the newest area to be added. It was the brainchild of Tun Dr Mahathir, in an effort to move traffic congestion away from the nation's financial capital. The creation of an administrative centre was an effort to mimic Washington's relation to New York. The other territory, Labuan, is famous as an offshore financial centre. The problem of congestion in Kuala Lumpur has abated somewhat. The city seems to be growing outwards. More and more businesses are moving their premises to new locations, where rentals are cheaper and they can access new client bases. New highways and the extension of the light railway train (LRT) also contribute the decisions of urban folks who have decided...

Just today I went to a petrol station. It was an Esso station, to be exact. I picked up the pump and filled up the car myself. While filling up the petrol, I noticed that the dock of petrol pump (once you took out the pump) had a little lever. You can flip it up. And then I remembered: Somewhere about 10 years ago Malaysians were introduced to the concept of "Angkat, Tolak, Masuk, Picit". It translated roughly to, "Lift, Push, Enter, Squeeze". A long time ago, there were petrol attendants who filled in petrol for the motorist who pulled up to the petrol station with his ride of choice -- be it BMW or Proton Saga. It was good for the motorist to go to the petrol station and be asked, "Mahu berapa?" ("How much?") In those days, the petrol attendants received the payment at the pump and proceeded to fill in the petrol for you. You felt like you were paying them for a job well done, which was often the case. Then somewhere along the line some people ...

According to Bloomberg, crude oil prices fell again today to below USD$35 per barrel. The reason: Forecasts by industry insiders that global recession will lead to cuts in petrol consumption. The analysts are, however, positive that the second half of the year will see the price of crude oil bouncing up again. The fall in crude oil prices is despite a production cut by OPEC. An industry insider with Nordea Bank AB in Oslo stated it simply: "Demand is falling faster than oil producers are cutting production. As long as OPEC are one step behind, prices will continue to fall." [Source: Bloomberg.com, 19th January 2009. Crude Falls on Forecasts Global Recession Will Cut Fuel Demand ] OPEC produces about 40% of the world's supply of crude oil. [Source: The Edge Daily, 31st December 2008. 31-12-2008: O&G sector to lose a bit of fluidity in 2009 ] What would a bearish outlook for the O&G sector mean? Mergers may take place as companies consolidate their resources to face...

It's 2009! Welcome once again to this humble page. My humble apologies for the lapse in posts. Crude oil prices have climbed since the historic low in December. In early January the price of crude oil was slightly above USD46 per barrel. [Source: Yahoo! News, 5 Jan. 2009. Oil Supported Above $46 as OPEC Cutbacks Take Hold ] As of today it is USD39.18 per barrel. [Source: New Straits Times, 14 Jan. 2009. Petrol Prices Likely To Stay ] Several factors have contributed to the price of oil rising again. First, there are the cuts in production by members of the OPEC cartel. Second, there are interruptions in supply of petrol. Nigerian reports indicate that Nigeria's oil pipeline have been damaged. At the same time, Israel has invaded the Gaza Strip. Nobody can say if the invasion has affected oil supply yet at the same time there is also no way of negating the proposition. [Ref: Yahoo! News, 5 Jan 2009. Ibid. ] In various countries, there are petrol shortages. In Tanzania, fuel shor...