From The Star,
Nation
Wednesday January 31, 2007
Najib: No cut in fuel prices yet
PUTRAJAYA: The Government does not plan to lower petrol prices just yet.
According to Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the Government needed to monitor the world oil prices for at least one year before making any decision.
“We will review the oil price, but a review does not automatically mean that we will reduce the price. That decision will be for the Cabinet to make,” he told reporters after chairing the National Mineral Council meeting here yesterday.
Oil prices steadied at US$54 a barrel on Tuesday. Prices have gone down 11% this year due to mild weather in the United States and fund selling, though prices have picked up from a 20-month low of US$49.90 on Jan 18.
Asked whether local carriers would cut fuel surcharges following the slide in jet fuel prices, Najib said it was up to the Transport Ministry to make its recommendation to the Cabinet.
On the council meeting, Najib said all states would standardise the rate and formula of calculating royalties for minerals.
The deputy prime minister said that due to the higher prices of minerals lately, there had been a lot of interest to explore commercially viable areas for tin ore, limestone and gold. Najib said that around 106 tonnes of gold worth about RM3.2bil could be found in Pahang, Kelantan, Johor, Negri Sembilan, Sabah and Sarawak and some 35 million tonnes of coal in Sabah and Sarawak