COMMENT | Despite the extensive reportage of its activities and segmental breakdown, the problem with the national oil corporation Petroliam Nasional Bhd or Petronas is its lack of disclosure in terms of its profits according to geographical location.

Without that disclosure, it is impossible to determine how badly it is doing internationally and where. Under open competition, Petronas is unlikely to be doing well in the international arena because it simply does not have the scale that oil majors such as Shell, ExxonMobil, and BP have.

A multitude of ills, misfortunes, misreadings, and mistakes can be hidden from the public eye, making it impossible to determine which of its operations geographically are very profitable, which are less so, and which are making losses.

Its problem is not, or to be more precise, not yet Sarawak and eventually Sabah, which account for most of its Malaysian petroleum and gas assets and profits. Both states are angling for a bigger share of that pie. That’s a topic for another day.

The government’s position...