`Petronas profits go back to the people'

`Petronas profits go back to the people' ALL profits derived from the earnings of national petroleum company Petronas go back to the people and none of it is retained by the government, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said. In reply to a question from Dr Tan Seng Giaw (DAP-Kepong), he said this could be seen from the RM16 billion which it utilised from Petronas' profits of RM31 billion, to subsidise the price of petrol and diesel. "The remainder is deposited into the Consolidated Fund and used for various development projects to benefit the people," Mustapa said. Tan had asked whether the government had utilised any of Petronas's profits following the increasing price of petroleum, for the benefit of the people, as was done in the past when prices of commodities like rubber and palm oil shot up. To the original question from Jawah Gerang (BN-Lubok Antu), Mustapa said Petronas' profits had jumped due to the increasing world oil prices ? from RM15.1 billion in 2003 and RM23.7 billion last year, to RM35.6 billion this year.