KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) today clarified that diesel reported to be headed to Australia is not Malaysian fuel, but belongs to international companies and is only stored in Malaysia.
The clarification comes amid viral claims linking Malaysia to a shipment of about 200 million litres of diesel bound for Australia.
“This is similar to the situation in the Philippines previously. That is not Malaysian diesel, but belongs to an international company that bought crude diesel from other countries, then stored that diesel in Malaysia,” the PMO said in a media statement.
It added that the oil is being sold to Australia through a contract between Viva Energy and BP Australia as reported by Australian news outlet news.com.au earlier today.
According to the PMO, the duel is described as “from Malaysia” because the ship is taking oil that is stored in Malaysia.
The PMO maintains that the Australia-bound diesel is not from Malaysia’s natural resources.
“The Malaysian government and Petronas do not sell our oil and diesel, as previously stated by the prime minister,” it said.
Earlier news reports had said Australia was set to receive additional diesel cargoes under commercial supply arrangements involving multiple international suppliers and storage hubs in the region.
