The Malaysian Gas Association (MGA) has rejected PKR’s claim of the government’s involvement in seeking support from Israel for MGA’s bid for the International Gas Union (IGU) presidency, saying the claim is utterly false, misleading and in fact incorrect.

The association said in a statement today that to its knowledge, no candidate from Israel has registered for the 25th World Gas Conference scheduled for five days beginning June 4, 2012.

MGA is a charter member of the IGU since 1986 and has played an active role in the union since then.

In a clarification on a letter from MGA dated Sept 6, 2005 to the general manager of the Israel Institute of Petroleum & Energy (IIPE), MGA said "it was in response to IIPE’s query whether delegates from Israel would be allowed to participate in the World Gas Conference should Malaysia win the presidency.

"They had also indicated then that they would support Malaysia’s candidacy for the presidency of the IGU."

IIPE is also a charter member of the IGU.

"Since IIPE indicated that they would support MGA’s bid for the presidency of the IGU, MGA thanked them for their declaration of support and clarified that in line with the Members’ Charter, IIPE would have to be present at the IGU’s Council Meeting in order to be eligible to vote," it said.

MGA noted that the IIPE in fact "did not attend the IGU Council Meeting in October in Tianjin, China" and hence "was not able to vote."

According to MGA, the IGU requires charter members to be physically present at its Council Meeting to be eligible to vote.

 

It noted that "proxy voting was not allowed."

Malaysia allows delegates from Israel

In one part of the letter, MGA said it merely clarified IIPE’s query on their potential participation in IGU-organised events in Malaysia should Malaysia win the bid.

MGA said it sought advice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was informed that Malaysia would allow delegates from Israel, as it would delegates from other countries, to travel to Malaysia to participate in an international conference organised by the relevant international organisation.

Established in July 1986 as a non-profit organisation whose founder members were Petronas, Shell, BP, Caltex and Esso, MGA now has 142 members consisting of companies representing the oil and gas industry in Malaysia.

Its aspiration is to create synergy in realising and harnessing the potential of the gas industry by driving the increased utilisation of gas through research and development (R&D) initiatives, while promoting its usage domestically and internationally.

- Bernama