Dateline 2011-06-09:
Interesting signals from Malaysia that Petronas may be tiring of being used as a piggy bank by the government, which relies on the state owned national oil company for more than a third of its revenues.
Shamsul Azhar Abbas, chief executive, disclosed to local reporters in Kuala Lumpur that Petronas is in talks with ministers over proposals for a dramatic shift in the way it pays dividends to its sole owner.
Up to now, the government has taken a flat M$30bn ($9.9bn) a year in dividends from Petronas, whatever its performance. That is a hefty contribution to federal government revenues, which last year amounted to M$199bn.
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Wata - Malaysian Oil and Gas Engineer 