Petrol Malaysia

Dear Reader, How many of you out there knew that styrofoam is a petroleum-derived product? I'll be honest: I didn't. But most of us who use consumer electronics would know what styrofoam is: it's that spongy, white, substance, formed into small globes, and further compressed together to form protective layers in packaging consumer electronics. It certainly helps reduce the damage to the electronic item in question, for example whenever there is a bump or the box falls on the ground. What is Styrofoam? From Wikipedia, we learn that styrofoam can refer to two things: Extruded polystyrene foam . In fact, the word " Styrofoam " was first used as a trademark by the Dow Chemical Company for extruded foamed polystyrene, used in thermal insulation and craft applications. Foamed polystyrene is moisture resistant and is used in building materials. Expanded polystyrene foam , in which case "styrofoam" has become a generic word to refer to moulded packaging ...

First off, this particular post has nothing to do with Malaysia. It has everything to do with events in a foreign land. Having said that, the question becomes, what is the "Royalty In Kind" programme? Why does it attract any attention at all? The country in question is the United States of America, and we pay attention because it involves scandals with regards to petrol companies. On 18th September 2009, The New Republic, an online news portal , blogged about the "Royalty In Kind" programme. Here is an excerpt: On Wednesday, the Interior Department finally terminated a program few people had ever heard of: the royalty-in-kind (RIK) system, which allowed oil and gas companies to drill in public lands and pay the government in oil, rather than cash. Over the past decade, the program, run out of an office in suburban Denver, had allowed companies to underpay the government by $10 million. But that's not why it was shut down--the tale goes well beyond ordinary...

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...

Merdeka and Malaysia It is now September 2009. Malaysia is 52 years old -- We Malaysians have just celebrated our 52nd Indenpendence Day on 31st August 2009. Not many people will tell you, however, that Malaysia was formed on 16th September 1963. Instead, the historic "release" from our former British colonial masters is glorified, time and time again -- without mention that it is Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia) that is being celebrated. It is appropriate in this day and age of 1Malaysia to celebrate 16th September this coming year. Again, the fact that Singapore was originally a part of Malaysia when it came into being on 16th September 1963, is quite often forgotten by younger Malaysians. (Singapore was later ejected from Malaysia on 9th August 1965, and did not come crawling back as expected. The Prime Minister then, Lee Kuan Yew, did all he could to transform the economy of the nascent island nation to a self-sufficient one.) ...and Singapore The inclusion of Singapor...

10 Month High and Factors On 24/8/2009, OPEC's basket price for crude oil stood at USD$72.89. The basket price is an average of prices from various regions. (Ref: OPEC Basket Price .) The graph shows that crude oil prices dropped to a low of USD68.04 on 17/8/2009 and have been climbing steadily since then. The result is a V-shaped movement over the last two weeks -- a decline in the price of oil (from USD72.22 to USD68.04) and its subsequent surge on the 24th of August 2009. On 24th August 2009, The Malaysian Insider reported that crude oil hit a ten month high at more than USD74/= per barrel. (Ref: The Malaysian Insider, 24th August 2009. Oil rises above US$74, nears 10 month high .) The factors cited in the report were: (1) Hopefulness that the US economy would recover soon, and (2) A storm in Eastern Canada. This storm was caused by Hurricane Bill: ... Hurricane Bill brought rain and heavy winds to Nova Scotia in eastern Canada on Sunday, but the Category 1 storm caused li...

In the past few months, crude oil prices have gone down and climbed up again. Forbes reports that crude oil futures for September delivery traded at more than USD69 per barrel today, a rise of 3% from yesterday. (Ref: Reuters, 18th August 2009. Oil rises above $68 on Wall Street gains .) In the local Malaysian scenario, the following interesting stories have appeared. (1) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) advised that Malaysia should reduce its dependency on oil. (Ref: The Star Online, 16th August 2009. IMF: Take preventive steps and reduce dependence on oil .) The Forbes today also reported: Malaysia shelved plans to implement GST in 2007 but has recently put it back on the drawing board due to declining oil revenues. Malaysia's budget deficit excluding oil revenues will be 11 percent of GDP in 2008, according to the IMF, and with lower oil prices in 2009 than in 2008, the income from oil will shrink in 2010 as it is based on 2009 prices. (Source: Forbes, 18th August 2009. UPD...