Screenshots

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/27/world/africa/27chad.html?ref=africa

Dear Jeff,
Wish to shed some more light here. I think Petronas is squeezed between the row between US govt plus World Bank and the government of Chad.

10/1/2006 - World bank suspended loans for oil development to Chad ..
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=31719

15/4/2006 - Oil revenues for the government of Chad was also frozen..
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1917209,00.html

It is not a stable country with war going on.

On April 13, 2006 rebels invaded the Capital, seeking to topple the Presidency of Idriss Déby. Government forces defeated them in the Battle of N'Djamena. Chad then accused Sudan of supporting and training the rebels, and severed diplomatic ties between the two countries.

And less than a week before, there was this demand / threat....

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060821/3/2orqq.html

opss.. I cant edit my previous post, so I continue here.

Wanted to add that due to war going on in those area maybe it is best for Petronas to get out,it will effect their share market if words gets out there doing business in instabilize country.

Not to mention Petronas investment in Sudan,is already keeping us silent about the genocide an ethnic cleansing happening in Darfur.

Societe des Hydrocarbures du Tchad (SHT)? How would you pronounce the abbreviation? :)

Hello Jeff,

When you were in NL we touched on the subject of China, and my dislike of the way Chinese (from China) doing business. Either at their homeland or elsewhere in the world.

Africa will be exploited again. This time by China. Perhaps one can say sour grapes (the Europeans). But let's just watch. There will soon be incidents of Chinese practices in these poor countries. They already have Sudanese blood on their hands. Their ruthlessness based on selfishness will be displayed. The problem is, the world is too greeding from cheap goods from China causing them to turn a blind eye to what China is all about.

Perhaps some of you might think I am mad in saying these things. But to understand a nation, it is best go back to their roots and cultures. Do we see anything different in China today than the time when Shi Wang Ti built the great wall of China? Or Mao and the Gang of Four? Or Yuen Shi Kei?

Cindy

cindy,
In contrast,do you think Petronas is doing "good thing" to Chad and Sudan previously?

Honestly people, it's all about power and corruption. Since the two are inseparable it all boils down to how much power in how many hands. China is a dictatorship, it is corrupt not because of it's history, it's all about politics and unchecked power. Your thoughts Jeff?

JEFF OOI says: Complexities of international politics aside, you are partly right.

Petronas has done more than good things to countries like Chad and Sudan. Their students are given sponsorship and many charity projects has been onvertaken by our oil company..
iTs pity that China is using their hidden hand to actually force way into Chad..forcing the president to actually throw away petronas n US companies so that China bastards can come in.

btw, mr jeff. i wonder y and on what motive you published the religion ratio of the country? does it make the dif???

JEFF OOI says: It's facets of demographics that, at a glance, give you an inkling of a country's historical lineage including colonial and cultural heritage, and current socio-politico-cultural accent. You did attend this Anthropology/Sociology 101 during your varsity?

moo_t

For the sake of arguement, I would say Malaysians (rather than Petronas) is a different bred than Chinese from mainland China.

I have worked, lived, and studied with different 'kind' of Chinese for the past 20 to 30 years - mainland, Malaysia, Taiwan, HK, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, US, UK, NL ... one would find their culture background dictate quite a bit of their behaviours. How they were groomed from the time they were born is a deciding factor. If a Malaysian is born and raised in China, this person would be hugely influenced by the China practice. Therefore how they view and treat others would be different.

i definitely do not believe that it is as simple as it sounds for chad to order these oil companies out of their land for reasons of taxes.

it is well known that although chad has oil, the majority of populace still live in poverty. however, it is also said that the only people reaping profits from oil is non other than the debys.

i kinda think that with the unrest stemming from the unhappiness of the people, deby is simply playing the nationalist card by fingering the oil companies.

at least deby is kinda smarter than khairy. khairy used the local chinese as bogeyman in order to further his political mileage.

i may not be wrong afterall. just read a news piece regards the latest development.

Quote:

August 27, 2006 (LONDON) — Chad’s government has told the partners in the oil pipeline operated by Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) that it wants to renegotiate the contract of the project, a top official at the country’s president office said Sunday.

"Deby is playing both the nationalist card because he is saying that foreign companies are taking Chad’s money, which is popular and also that if these two companies are not flexible enough to come to a new agreement where Chad receives more money then Deby can always talk to the Chinese."

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article17281

The prices of crude oil has gone up since they last signed the production sharing agreement. venezuela, and now Chad wants to renegotiate the terms. Petronas will not lose as they can easily tie up the oil in Chad to the LNG deal to Shanghai in case they are forced out.

There are 2 parts to this report...first to investigate if it's true Petronas didnt pay the "Real" tax...or petronas hasnt paid it's dues to the "tax man"

2ns, is dealing with how the chinese companies are doing business in africa...
I am currentlt based of a north african country and have 1st hand experiance dealing with the chinese in north africa .....on 2 occasions .... our toughest competitors from china have gone to our customers and said: "Throw X away, we'll pay your legal costs and take over X role" ..ofcourse i dont know if coruption are involved but it was clear they will do anything to get that business!

This is very normal in the way the chinese companies deal overseas ..the will throw costs and numbers for the single reason of getting reference ...and hoping to use these references for future contracts!

AS mentioned above also, in africa, coruption are high ..and the chinese companies will nto hesitate to throw money on this!

So, back to Petronas, i dont think it's business sence for petornas to deal in africa witout bank guarantees ....things acn change overnight and i dotn want my tax money to be paid to venture unstable countries in africa

The chinese competitors have dealth with in my line are okay to run at losts, total losts becoz they are supported by government funding to operate!

Hence, we need to analyze this further before putting down petronas...which to my knowledge is usually very professional in all their dealings....this statement i heard from the horses mouth in my current north african base where petronas has it's operations!

I honetly think this is due to some unpaid corruption money! Need further investigation ....

This is abit unrelated, but I just found this article in thestar:

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday urged Malaysia to bypass Western powers as it expands its global business links, and offered Caracas as an ideal destination to develop its palm oil and petroleum technology.

"Don't worry Malaysia. As a brother, we can help you explore and find oil. If you don't have oil (anymore) ... it will be provided for by Venezuela,'' he added.

Venezuela, he said, had even larger proven reserves than Saudi Arabia - the reason America was out to oust him.

"My friend Fidel Castro says ... Washington is looking for you,'' added Chavez, without elaborating.

--
umm... a New World Order?