Petronas urged to dump U.S. dollar<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Bintulu, Malaysia<\/p>\n
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad on Thursday urged
\nnational oil firm Petronas to drop the U.S. dollar for the euro
\nin its oil and gas trades as he launched a multi-billion dollar
\ngas complex here.<\/p>\n
Mahathir noted that the dollar had fallen by 25 percent
\nagainst the euro since the European unit was launched in 2000.<\/p>\n
\"I think it is something that Petronas should consider because
\nthe U.S. dollar has depreciated 25 percent. In other words, we
\nare earning 25 percent less,\" he told reporters.<\/p>\n
\"If we were to sell in euro but at the same price when
\nconverted to the U.S. dollar, if the euro appreciates, then we
\ngain.\"<\/p>\n
Mahathir said such a move may upset the U.S. but \"it is not a
\nquestion of the U.S. being happy or not, it is a question of
\nwhether we get value for our goods.\"<\/p>\n
If the greenback appreciates, trades can once again revert
\nback to the dollar, he added.<\/p>\n
The proposal to dump the world's reserve currency is already
\nbeing considered by Indonesia's state oil company, Pertamina,
\nwhich recently said it may adopt the euro in its trades because
\nthe dollar has become too volatile.<\/p>\n
Mahathir earlier launched Petronas' 16.6 billion ringgit
\n(US$4.4 billion) liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex in Bintulu
\nin eastern Sarawak state, which is set to help Malaysia overtake
\nAlgeria as the world's second largest LNG producer.<\/p>\n
But the veteran premier urged industry players to be more cost
\nefficient to cope with stiffer competition and falling prices.<\/p>\n
\"We cannot afford to be complacent. We know that great
\ncompanies do not remain great forever... our reserves are not
\ninexhaustible, indeed it is quite limited,\" he warned.<\/p>\n
\"We must no longer be confined to the home ground but instead
\ndevelop the capability as well as capacity to be a global LNG
\nproducer.\"<\/p>\n
Malaysia is presently the third largest LNG exporter in the
\nworld, accounting for 13 percent or 15 million tons global
\nexports annually, after Indonesia and Algeria.<\/p>\n
Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) said its LNG complex in
\nBintulu, comprising of three plants with total production
\ncapacity of about 23 million tons a year, was the world's largest
\nLNG production facility on a single location.<\/p>\n
A total 37.5 billion ringgit has been invested in the upstream
\nand downstream activities in the area, it said.<\/p>\n
Most of the LNG is exported to Japan, Taiwan and South Korea,
\nwhere Malaysia's share of their LNG markets stands at 25 percent,
\n49 percent and 21 percent respectively.<\/p>\n
Last year, LNG accounted for 5.6 percent of Malaysia's gross
\nnational product and 3.6 percent of Malaysia's gross exports.<\/p>",
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