Back to basics: 1968-2008

NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin

malaysiatoday - [...] Again we go back to numbers. One barrel or crude oil is 159 litres. And approximately 46-47% of a barrel of crude oil will turn out to be the fuel that we use in our vehicles.

46% of 159 = 73.14 litres.

And at the current rate of RM 2.70/litre, this constitutes to RM 197.48 of fuel per barrel of crude oil. This is only 46% of the barrel, mind you. There is another 54% that are still refined and traded in the markets. These products include bitumen, kerosene, and natural gases and so many more.

Using the indicative value of RM 3.30 = USD 1 (it is actually RM3.26 today), we get that a barrel of crude oil produces USD 59.84 worth of fuel. And this makes a balance of USD 70.16 that has not been accounted for. In actual fact, we still pay for this as they are charged in the forms of fuel surcharge by airlines and road taxes for the building of road (because they use the tar/bitumen) and many more excuse charging us but let us just leave all that out of our calculations.

USD 59.84 compared to a barrel of crude oil, which is approximately USD 130, turns out to be 46% of a barrel as well. So this is where I got curios. Where is the subsidy if we are paying 46% of the price of a barrel of crude oil when the production of petrol/barrel of crude oil is still only 46%?

Now, the government has a very ugly predicament in front of them. The taxation of foreign cars to protect Proton has been deemed unfair by these calculations and the price of fuel is currently at world market price. So I hope our PM retracts his statement in The Star as it seems like a joke after all these calculations. Who is helped by this move? Not the poor. Not even the rich. Everyone is affected. Cost of living rises and everyone will feel the pinch.

As far as I know, only the politicians who live in Putrajaya and come for their Parliament meetings in Kuala Lumpur (approximately 60+ km) are the ones to gain as they claim their fuel and toll charges from the money of the RAKYAT. It is so disappointing to see this happen time and time again to the Malaysian public, where they are deceived by the propaganda held by the politicians and the controls they have over the press.... selanjutnya.