Mantan Wartawan Sumbang Sabotaj Ekonomi

Pengadu-domba dan mereka yang berdusta sebagai modal strategi politik untuk meningkatkan kedudukan mereka dikalangan rakyat dengan menghasut dan memburukkan pemimpin, walaupun ianya akan menjejaskan kemakmuran negara.

Terdapat pelbagai khabar angin dan pembohongan yang engage diada-adakan tau dimanipulasi dari fakta atau kenyataan sebenar hanya dengan objektif untuk mencapai menimbulkan kebencian dan menggurangkan keyakinan keatas kepimpinan dan dakar dan program-program strategi yang diusahakan.

Ini termasuk program strategik pembangunan ekonomi, yang bakal akan jadi pemangkin dan ‘penggerak permainan’ (game changer) seperti projek Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) di Timur Laut Johor.

Ianya merupakan pelaburan strategik Petronas paling besar setakat ini yang dianggarkan berjumlah RM60 billion dan program utamanya ialah Penggerang Integrated Complex (PIC). PIC dirancang untuk kapasiti memproses dan menyaring sehingga 300,000 tong minyak mental sehari.

Kunjungan ulung Raja Salman Al Saud pemerintah Arab Saudi bulan lepas telah menyaksikan Petronas memeterai perjanjian dengan Aramco Saudi, dimana syarikat ‘seven sisters‘ itu akan melabur RM6 billion dalam projek PIC.

Laporan Utusan Online:

Petronas, Saudi Aramco meterai SPA RAPID

AHMAD SHAZWAN MD. YUSOF
28 Februari 2017 3:25 PM

KUALA LUMPUR 28 Feb. – Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) dan Saudi Aramco hari ini menandatangani Perjanjian Pembelian Saham (SPA) bagi penyertaan ekuiti syarikat minyak Arab Saudi itu dalam projek Pembangunan Bersepadu Penapisan Minyak dan Petrokimia (RAPID) di Pengerang, Johor.

Majlis pemeteraian itu disaksikan oleh Raja Arab Saudi, Raja Salman Abdulaziz Al-Saud dan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak di sini.

Petronas diwakili Presiden dan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Kumpulan, Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin sementara Saudi Aramco pula diwakili oleh Presiden dan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutifnya, Amin H. Nasser.
Yang turut hadir, Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan dan Menteri Tenaga, Industri dan Sumber Galian Arab Saudi, Khalid Al-Falih.

Menerusi transaksi jual beli saham itu, kedua-dua syarikat akan memiliki pegangan ekuiti sama rata ke atas beberapa projek dan aset penapisan minyak, loji perekah dan kemudahan petrokimia RAPID dalam Kompleks Bersepadu Pengerang (PIC) dengan sejumlah AS$7 bilion (RM31 bilion) bakal dijana menerusi kerjasama berkenaan.

Menurut Wan Zulkiflee, PIC merupakan salah satu projek terbesar di Asia Tenggara dan pelaburan terbesar Petronas bagi sektor hiliran.

“Perjanjian ini merupakan peristiwa bersejarah bagi industri minyak dan gas kerana dua syarikat minyak terkemuka berkongsi dalam membangunkan projek baharu bertaraf dunia.

“Perkongsian ini bakal mengukuhkan lagi kedudukan, pengalaman operasi serta prestasi kedua-dua syarikat dalam membangunkan projek-projek mega serta rangkaian komersial dalam pelbagai pasaran global,” katanya. – UTUSAN ONLINE

Artikel Penuh: http://www.utusan.com.my/bisnes/ekonomi/petronas-saudi-aramco-meterai-spa-rapid-1.450173#ixzz4c6gWTiPV
© Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd

*****************

Ianya bukti kerjasama erat bukan sahaja diantara dua negara Islam ini tetapi dua pemimpin, yang saling mempunyai penghormatan dan keyakinan tinggi sesama mereka.

Pelaburan ini secara automatiknya melenyapkan laporan media asing sebelum itu berkenaan Saudi Aramco menarik diri keluar dari rancangan untuk melabur di RAPID.

Laporan Reuters pada 27 Januari 2017:

Aramco snub puts Malaysia’s Petronas in tight spot over RAPID project

By Emily Chow and A. Ananthalakshmi | KUALA LUMPUR
Saudi Aramco’s decision to shelve a plan to partner with Malaysia’s state oil company threatens the country’s ambitious plans for an oil and gas processing hub, which it may struggle to keep on course if it cannot find another foreign investor.

The Saudi oil major suspended plans for a joint venture with Petroliam Nasional Berhad, or Petronas, on the $27 billion project in the southern Malaysian state of Johor due to concerns it would not yield high returns, sources told Reuters this week.

Petronas – which has been hit hard by the slump in oil prices, cutting jobs, capital expenditure and its contribution to government coffers – insists the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project at Pengerang, on Malaysia’s southern tip, remains on track and will begin operations as planned in 2019.

Analysts say the project is too politically important for Prime Minister Najib Razak, mired in a corruption scandal involving state fund 1MDB, to be scrapped or drastically pared back, but believe Petronas will need a strategic investor to bring in funds and industry expertise.

“They may scale it down, but it’s going to go ahead. It might get staggered,” said Subbu Bettadapura, senior director of energy, Asia Pacific, at consultancy Frost and Sullivan.

“(Malaysia) would definitely try to channel funds into Pengerang because a lot is riding on that. All the forces, political and industrial, would be trying to make this a reality.”

Industry analysts and consultants say Petronas is in talk with other foreign investors.

Najib – who has said RAPID will create jobs, raise standards of living and boost the country’s economy – will want to ensure the project in electorally key Johor state faces no further hurdles before the next national election due by 2018.

With Western oil majors also hurting from a slump in oil prices, the most likely solution for RAPID would be to recruit Chinese players to partner with Petronas.

Some analysts say cash-rich Chinese refiners looking to expand into new markets could be interested in RAPID.

ALSO IN COMMODITIES

Chinese supermarkets pull Brazil meat from shelves as food safety fears grow
Rainy end to March cheered by most U.S. farmers, but not all: Braun
Najib has been moving closer to Beijing diplomatically as the fallout from the 1MDB scandal strains ties with the United States, returning from a November state visit to China with about $34 billion in deals.

“Najib needs to ensure that RAPID can still go on,” said Achmad Sukarsono, analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. “Politically Najib would want to involve China more.”

PROJECT ECONOMICS

Others, however, caution that RAPID may not make sense for China, which already has enough refineries to meet even its huge oil thirst. Chinese energy firms, they say, would rather invest in more crude production.

A bigger concern is the economics of the project, which have been called into question after sources said Aramco had concluded it would not generate sufficient returns.

Petronas said in a statement on Thursday that RAPID – which includes a 300,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery producing gasoline and diesel – was expected to deliver positive returns and value as planned.

The project, part of the huge Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC), was announced in 2011 when oil traded at $110 a barrel. Crude prices have since halved.

Like neighboring Singapore, the Pengarang peninsula sits between the Malacca Strait and the South China Sea, through which almost all the Middle East oil and gas bound for northern Asia’s industrial powerhouses of China, Japan and South Korea is shipped.

If fully developed, PIPC would become one of Asia’s biggest hubs for oil storage, fuel refining and petrochemical production, as well as imports and exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Sushant Gupta, research director of refining and chemicals at energy research and consulting firm Wood Mackenzie, predicted Asian markets will be short of gasoline by 2020, meaning RAPID could hit the market at the right time to benefit from improving refining margins.

“So it will be prudent for the sponsors to get the refinery ready on time to capture the expected upswing in margins,” Gupta said.

CANADIAN SACRIFICE?

The RAPID setback means Petronas now faces questions over two of its biggest projects.

It is in the middle of making a final investment decision on a $27 billion liquefied natural gas project in Canada that has faced several delays due to environmental concerns.

The state-run company is also wrestling with lower profit and cash flow. In early 2016, Petronas said it would cut spending by up to 50 billion ringgit ($11.27 billion) over the next four years.

With the questions hanging over RAPID, Petronas may be forced to re-think the Canada project.

“RAPID will still come online, it’s just there is a greater financial burden on Petronas now,” said Peter Lee, an oil and gas analyst at BMI Research. “If anything were to give way or be delayed further, I would think it is the Canada project first.”

For graphic on Pengerang oil and gas development click: tmsnrt.rs/2kAw5RZ

(Additional reporting by Mark Tay and Henning Gloystein in SINGAPORE, Reem Shamseddine in KUWAIT; Editing by Alex Richardson)

************

Dalam pada itu, terdapat khabar angin yang amat popular sedang aktif digembar-gemburkan dikalangan penggiat politik Pembangkang dengan dusta memburukkan Kerajaan Pusat terbaru.

Mereka begitu berusaha untuk mengambarkan bahawa Perdana Menteri Dato’ Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Razak sebenarnya amat tidak berpuas hati dengan Presiden dan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Kumpulan Petronas Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, berdasarkan maklumat yang dimanipulasikan dan ditambah dengan pembohongan.

Ini disandarkan kepada sidang media Datuk Wan Zulkiflee pada 22 Februari 2017.

Laporan The Star:

Wednesday, 22 February 2017

Petronas clears the air on partnerships

BY RISEN JAYASEELAN

KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd’s (Petronas) discussions with potential equity partners for its projects are driven by its interest in bringing in new technologies, as well as diversifying risks in exploration activity.

It is not with the view of getting funding to help finance its projects.

President and chief executive Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin said that when the national oil company embarks on a project, the entire funding requirement would be factored in.

“We never take on a project with the view that we have to depend on investors for funding to complete the project,” he told senior editors at a briefing here yesterday.

“We are always in discussions with potential partners to maximise the value of our projects and better manage the cash position of the organisation. But we are not dependent on anyone for funding to complete the project. We only pursue partnerships on terms acceptable to us,” he said.

Recently, wire news reports suggested that Petronas was looking to divest a large minority stake in a key Sarawak offshore gas field, and that the sale was partly driven by a need to raise cash at a time of low oil and gas prices.

Earlier reports stated that Saudi Aramco had pulled out of a plan to get involved in Petronas’ Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project in Pengerang, Johor.

The reports suggested that the pressure was on Petronas to find a new partner or struggle to complete the project.

Wan Zulkiflee expressed surprise at the report of Saudi Aramco pulling out of Rapid when it had not gone into any agreement with the entity from Saudi Arabia.

“How can there be a situation of a party pulling out of something when the party was not part of it in the first place?” he said referring to reports of Saudi Aramco supposedly pulling out of Rapid.

“From day one, we have stated that we are able to fully fund Rapid. We are and will not be dependent on anyone for this project. We are close to 60% complete, costs are within projections and the refinery will be ready by 2019 followed by the petrochemical portion by 2020.”

On the potential sale of equity in the Sarawakian oil field, Wan Zulkiflee said that one of the criteria in looking for a partner was in finding one that is able to bring new technologies that make the extraction process more efficient, considering that the gas field contains high levels of carbon dioxide.

“There is also exploration work there, so it is in the normal course of business to find a production sharing partner to share the risks and rewards.”

Wan Zulkiflee also said that Petronas’ financials were intact, despite suffering from lower earnings due to the oil price collapse. Numerous cost-saving measures have also borne fruit.

“Just look at our balance sheet. We have more than RM130bil in cash. We have one of the lowest gearings among international oil companies at 17% and our ratings have not been downgraded in this entire period.”

On Petronas’ staff-rationalisation exercise, Wan Zulkiflee said that it had laid off 2,300 employees last year, which brought about an annual manpower cost savings of RM200mil.

“But the main benefit is that the exercise got rid of duplication (of roles) in the organisation and this, in turn, raises accountability. This is a much bigger win from this exercise than the cost savings,” he said.

Wan Zulkiflee also said that the oil major was using a price assumption of US$45 per barrel for Brent crude oil for its 2017 planning, and that it was maintaining its capital expenditure budget at RM60bil for the year.

The Government in Budget 2017 had also assumed oil to be at US$45 per barrel.

Despite the turbulent industry, 2016 marked many firsts for Petronas, said Wan Zulkiflee.

This included Petronas commissioning the world’s first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) liquefaction, storage and offloading vessel – Petronas FLNG Satu – which is now operating offshore in Sarawak. It also started commercial operations at the ninth liquefaction train at the Petronas LNG complex in Bintulu, Sarawak.

Last year, Petronas also commissioned its Sabah Ammonia Urea (Samur) project with first production expected soon. In 2016, the oil giant was also awarded deepwater exploration blocks in the Gulf of Mexico’s Salina Basin. It entered into a memorandum of understanding with National Iranian Oil Company to study two oil fields there and production of oil from Iraq crossed 100 million barrels.
Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2017/02/22/petronas-clears-the-air-on-partnerships/#KVm5jKYWMfJ7MQFB.99

***************

Walaupun Datuk Wan Zulkiflee menjelaskan bahawa beliau sendiri terkejut mengenai laporan Reuters itu kerana pada peringkat itu, kedua kedua pihak masih lagi dalam proses perundingan dan belum mencapai apa-apa persetujuan yang konkrit. Hatta, soal menarik diri tidak timbul pada peringkat sebegini.

Dalam sidang media yang sama, beliau juga menjelaskan apabila Petronas menimbangkan untuk memulakan sesuatu projek, perkiraan telah dibuat agar Petronas sendiri mampu untuk menjana program tersebut.

Namun, pertimbangan untuk rakankongsi juga sentiasa terbuka bagi menerima modal tambahan dan menjana kepentingan strategik seperti meningkatkan peluang jaringan melalui kerjasama dan rakankongsi, terutama kedalam kepasaran terbitan baru.

Ini merupakan salah satu track yang di layari Petronas dengan jayanya, sebagai sebuah operator huluan industri hidrokarbon ini apabila terbukti mampu beroperasi di 20 bush negara dan membawa pulangan yang lumayan.

Kejayaan kunjungan Raja Salman dan perjanjian Petronas-Aramco Saudi merupakan bukti bahawa keyakinan global keatas Malaysia dan pengurusan ekonomi oleh Kerajaan masih mantap.

Ianya amat bertentangan dengan apa yang digembar-gemburkan Pembangkang dan dicanang merata dunia dengan bantuan sesetengah media asing bahawa pengurusan ekonomi negara amat lemas, bebanan hutang diluar kawalan dan negara akan muflis.

Perdana Menteri Najib menyifatkan perbuatan fitnah ini sebagai cubaan untuk mensabotaj ekonomi negara.

Laporan Utusan Online:

Henti sabotaj ekonomi – PM

C.Sheila Rani
20 Mac 2017 11:24 AM

KUALA LUMPUR 20 Mac – Perbuatan sabotaj ekonomi harus dihentikan oleh mana-mana pihak demi kepentingan rakyat dan masa depan Malaysia.

Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak menegaskan, tindakan sedemikian tidak wajar diteruskan walaupun golongan berkenaan mempunyai perbezaan pendapat politik.

“Ada sedikit sebanyak unsur sentimen yang boleh dipengaruhi melalui cita-cita yang bertujuan untuk memburukkan keadaan ekonomi negara dengan meluahkan fakta-fakta yang tidak berasas dan tidak tepat.

“Ini tidak wajar diteruskan kerana kepentingan negara tidak seharusnya dijadikan pertaruhan dalam soal politik kepartian,” katanya ketika menjawab soalan Datuk Seri Dr. Irmohizam Ibrahim (BN-Kuala Selangor) dalam sesi soal jawab dalam persidangan Dewan Rakyat, hari ini. – UTUSAN ONLINE

Artikel Penuh: http://www.utusan.com.my/berita/nasional/henti-sabotaj-ekonomi-pm-1.459389#ixzz4c6o4Rkhw
© Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd

****************

Penyokong Pembangkang memanipulasi saranan Perdana Menteri Najib ini dan menyandarkan dengan beberapa laporan media sebelumnya, untuk terus memberikan gambaran yang salah dan berniat jahat.

Ianya sebahagian dari strategi Pembangkang untuk menghakis keyakinan rakyat walaupun realitinya berbeza, seperti episod pelaburan baru RM 6 billion di Penggerang, Johor itu berbanding dengan pembohonan bahawa keyakinan keatas ekonomi dan cara pengurusan.

Blogger Ganesh Sahathevan telah memanipulasi dua laporan media ini untuk memberikan gambaran sebenarnya Perdana Menteri Najib tidak senang dengan Datuk Wan Zulkiflee.

Beliau juga menuduh bahawa Presiden Petronas itu antara yang dinamakan sebagai “Individu yang mensabotaj ekonomi negara”.

Beliau merupakan mantan wartawan The Sun, telah melalui penulisan telah menyerang Presiden dan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif Kumpulan Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin:

While PM Najib provided no evidence of who exactly “almost sabotaged” the Aramco-Petronas JV,we do know that Petronas CEO and President Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin himself expressed concerns about the JV just two days before signing, and he did so publicly ,via a press conference that he himself called.

The Star reported these matters:
Wan Zulkiflee expressed surprise at the report of Saudi Aramco pulling out of Rapid when it had not gone into any agreement with the entity from Saudi Arabia.
“How can there be a situation of a party pulling out o

f something when the party was not part of it in the first place?” he said referring to reports of Saudi Aramco supposedly pulling out of Rapid.
“From day one, we have stated that we are able to fully fund Rapid. We are and will not be dependent on anyone for this project. We are close to 60% complete, costs are within projections and the refinery will be ready by 2019 followed by the petrochemical portion by 2020.”

The above was preceded by an earlier report in The Star,dated 25 February 2017 in which Petronas seemed to be warning off PM Najib and his government.Headlined “Let Petronas Do Its Job”, the story included the following statements:

There has been a fair bit of speculation surrounding Aramco inking a deal with Petronas in relation to the latter’s Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development or Rapid project in Pengerang, Johor. The latest is that both parties will sign an agreement on Monday during King Salman’s visit to Malaysia.
Petronas has not said anything about any potential deal with Aramco, except that it is always in talks with potential partners, but that any deal inked would have to be on Petronas’ terms. In other words, beneficial to Petronas and not lopsided, as it should be.
Petronas’ president and CEO Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin recently told editors in Kuala Lumpur that Petronas never takes on projects with the view that it has to depend on investors for funding to complete the project.
That said, partnering Aramco should have its benefits, considering it is not only the company with the vastest oil reserves, but also the most valuable company in the world today. The deal just has to be struck on equally beneficial terms.
…..the O&G resources of the country belong to all Malaysians, and they have to be handled with care.

It does appear then that it was the Petronas CEO himself who was trying to discourage Aramco, and he was not afraid of doing so publicly.

Then there is the matter of the EPF. Najib is reported to have said:

“Some unpatriotic people had spread claims that the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) was almost bankrupt and that the government was unable to pay the salaries of its civil servants.
“The Saudi Arabian government had received this wrong information about our country and thus, were quite doubtful about investing in Malaysia.
“We had to meet them and correct the facts that Malaysia is among the best countries in the world (to invest in). When they were convinced, they finally agreed to invest with us” .
However, Aramco sells its crude to Petronas, and it would,as any oil company would, be interested only in the viability of its client. If otherwise, Shell, ExxonMobil and others would not be investing in say Nigeria. Put in another way, oil companies have long ago learnt to limit their exposure to the oil assets that they deal with, managing to ring-fence these from the problems of the countries they deal with.
Therefore the matter of EPF would be of interest only if the EPF is expected to bail-out the RAPID project, for a bail-out is what it would be.If not, the EPF would already be an investor in the project. A bail out should not be unexpected, given that the JV agreement with Aramco seems not to involve any injection of cash.
END
*******************************

Blogger ini juga dengan tanpa bukti melibatkan KWSP (EPF) dalam artikel ini dan mengambarkan bahawa wang KWSP akan digunakan untuk ‘bail out‘ RAPID sekiranya perjanjian Petronas-Aramco itu gagal. Ini ditambah sekiranya tidak, KWSP sememangnya akan melabur didalam projek gergasi Petronas itu.

Mengheret KWSP dengan manipulasi maklumat yang tidak tepat adalah salah satu cara untuk menghasut agar terdapat dikalangan pencarum KWSP salah tafsir tulisan ini dan terpedaya dengan dakyah Pembangkang bahawa ekonomi negara sebenarnya teruk dan tidak diurus dengan baik.

Maka ianya akan dijadikan sebagai titik untuk mula mebangkitkan kesangsian dan kemarahan dikalangan pencarum KWSP, yang rata-ratanya rakyat biasa.

Tindakan ini jelas sebagaimana yang ditekankan oleh Perdana Menteri Najib akan aktiviti mensabotaj ekonomi ini.

Amat malang sekiranya strategi untuk menghasut dan menjana kebencikan kepada kepimpinan dan Kerajaan Barisan Nasional memberi kesan kepada negara, terutama menghalang peluang perdagangan apa skala sekalipun dan pertumbuhan ekonomi, demi merealisasikan politik sempit sesetengah pihak.