Najib Abdul Razak has requested the Pakatan Harapan government not to raid Petronas' coffers or use its funds for bailout missions, similar to what transpired during Dr Mahathir Mohamad's previous 22-year tenure as prime minister.

In a Facebook post this afternoon, the former prime minister noted that Putrajaya stated Petronas, Khazanah and Bank Negara would be told to fork out higher dividends to the government to compensate for the abolishment of the goods and services tax (GST).

“This is an approach which is not sustainable and set to sacrifice the long-term (benefits) for the short-term.

“Petronas' profit also depends on global oil and gas prices which are beyond its control. Over-dependence on high oil prices should be avoided.

“Although the global oil price is rather high compared to the estimate in my 2018 budget, we must be on guard against another drop, such as the 80 percent drop in 2014 and 2015,” Najib added.

He also pointed out that Petronas' reserves have increased to RM164.7 billion at the end of March 2018, which is an increase of RM36.5 billion compared to RM128.2 billion for the last three months of 2017.

He said the increase followed the rise in oil prices, apart from the payment received from Aramco Saudi's investment in the Pengerang Rapid project.

Najib noted that the reserves were much higher compared to 2008, when he first assumed the post of finance minister.

“During my administration, I was careful in ensuring Petronas need not pay more than what was required in dividends to the government because I wanted to ensure there were sufficient funds for its development plan in the business sector...,” he added.

At the time, Najib said, Petronas was given the freedom to invest in upstream projects in Malaysia as well as abroad.

“These investments have the potential to generate high dividends for Petronas and Malaysia in the long run. We invest for returns in the long run,” he added.