China has ways to tap shale gas riches

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CHINA’S aspiration for a US-style gas bonanza that will reduce its dependence on imported energy must confront three key scarcities — water, shale gas expertise and pipelines — before it can become a reality. 
 
As well, Chinese authorities must manage the social and environmental frictions likely to arise when drilling companies seek access to farm land and use hydraulic fracturing, or fracking — the technique that is an integral part of shale gas exploitation.

Fracking involves injecting a mix of sand, water and chemicals into rocks deep beneath the surface to crack them open and get access to the shale.

In the US, large-scale shale gas extraction in the past five years has revolutionised its energy, transport and manufacturing landscape to the point where the US is likely to become an exporter of liquefied national gas by 2015.

Last year, for example, the US produced 220 billion cubic metres of shale gas, or more than a third of total natural gas output. Over the next two decades, shale’s share is likely to rise to 50 per cent. The US Energy Information Administration estimates the country’s recoverable shale gas reserves at about 14 trillion cubic metres.

Now China, with potential shale gas reserves of 25 trillion cubic metres in areas such as Sichuan province and the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang, wants to emulate the US experience, setting a goal in its latest State Council energy white paper of extracting 6.5 billion cubic metres of gas a year by 2015, and as much as 100 billion cubic metres a year by 2020.

But the US shale bonanza has been more than three decades in the making, and draws on the experience and infrastructure of a well-established oil and gas industry.

North America has thousands of kilometres of gas pipelines and receiving points, its geological survey records are extensive, its exploration companies have pioneered the key techniques of horizontal drilling and fracking, its rig crews are the best in the business and have good access to water for fracking, and there is a strong service sector covering finance, distribution, processing and marketing to support the industry. Even so, the industry has had to contend with vigorous opposition from environmental and farming groups concerned over water and land usage.

For China to achieve anything like the US success over the next decade, it will have to address these key issues. Much of its northern half is water-stressed already, while in the south, shale exploration will have to compete for water now used to grow food.

Certainly, China has the scale to be a big shale player, and state-controlled entities such as CNPC (whose listed arm is PetroChina), CNOOC, China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) and Sinochem are keen to deploy domestically the shale skills that they hope to pick up from recent investments in North American shale plays and in joint ventures with oil majors ExxonMobil, Shell, ConocoPhillips, BP and Total within China.

While these technological skills are crucial, each shale gas field is unique, meaning there is no “one size fits all”. That is why many of the North American fields were developed initially by smaller, independent oil and gas companies such as Devon Energy, Anadarko Petroleum and Chesapeake Energy.

When China held its first round of bidding for shale gas blocks in 2010, only six state-owned energy companies were invited to take part, and the blocks were limited to southern China, where water is more easily available than in the arid north and northwest of the country.

The second round of bidding on October 25 last year drew a much bigger field and was open to non-state players. A total of 152 bids from 83 companies were received for the 20 blocks, covering about 20,000sq km in Chongqing municipality and the provinces of Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang, Ahui and Henan.

Sinopec, one of the first-round invitees, began drilling China’s first shale gas production wells in Sichuan province near Chongqing in June last year. Sichuan is one of China’s biggest grain growing areas, and some farmers there are wary of the impact shale exploration will have on their land and water.

China is already the world’s biggest energy consumer and uses a prodigious amount of domestic and imported coal and oil to run many of its power stations. It also has massive capabilities in wind, solar, hydro and nuclear power.

But it is natural gas that offers the potential to really change China’s energy equation, particularly in the form of its domestic shale resources, coal-seam gas and coal-to-gas conversion. For now, much of China’s gas is imported via pipeline from Central Asia or as LNG from the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Australia.

In its latest World Energy Outlook released last month, the International Energy Agency says it expects unconventional gas — which covers shale and CSG — to account for nearly half of the increase in global gas production out to 2035, with most of the increase coming from China, the US and Australia.

But the IEA also warns that the unconventional gas business is “still in its formative years” and that there is uncertainty in many countries about the extent and quality of the resource base, and about the environmental impact of producing this gas.

The IEA’s outlook supports the view of British industry analyst Wood Mackenzie that China’s shale gas development, while potentially substantial, will be a long-term story. At the World Gas Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Wood Mackenzie’s head of Asia-Pacific gas research, Gavin Thompson, said the focus should be on China’s gas import options to meet rapidly increasing demand. This, he said, presented opportunities for pipe suppliers in Central Asia and Russia, along with LNG suppliers.

“We remain positive that China’s domestic shale gas will be a major boost to supply growth, producing approximately 150 billion cubic metres (bcm) per annum by 2030, largely accounted for by the Sichuan and Tarim basin production.

“However, shale gas growth will only accelerate after 2020, staying under 30bcm before then. Meanwhile, China’s gas demand will increase from just over 150bcm to more than 600bcm from now to 2030.”

Wood Mackenzie believed that both coal-to-gas projects and coal-bed methane (CBM) would each deliver more output to the Chinese gas market than shale right up to 2024.

“By 2020, we see CTG and CBM producing 27bcm and 17bcm respectively against only approximately 11bcm of shale production. These sectors are therefore far more significant through the medium-term, but are not receiving the appropriate level of attention outside of China.”

Thompson said there was a need for a much deeper geological understanding of China’s shale potential and the know-how to exploit it. As well, land access issues, environmental challenges, a lack of supply chain services and infrastructure, and decisions on the best allocation of capital all cloud China shale gas outlook.

China’s energy white paper says the government will “actively promote” the development and use of unconventional oil and gas resources by speeding up the exploration of coal-bed gas and selecting favourable exploration target areas for shale.

By Geoff Hiscock is the author of Earth Wars: The Battle for Global Resources, published by John Wiley & Sons

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The cause of unethical activities

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HUMAN beings are born the same way, yet we live and die differently.

From the cradle, we pick up habits from our parents. On growing up, we learn from our teachers and society.

Some of us attend moral classes, celebrate various days and practise rituals regularly. Yet we may still be unethical.

The four main goals that everyone competes for in life are money, energy, time and food.

Deprivation of any of these may lead to unethical behaviour.

People accumulate wealth more than they need. As the ‘haves’ constantly multiply their wants, the ‘have-nots’ are deprived from having sufficient food, clothing, shelter, energy and time.

These in turn create social problems such as conflicts (i.e. civil wars, nations against nations, terrorism, religious conflicts and personal conflicts), environmental crisis (i.e. global warming, water pollution, air pollution, food inadequacy, waste production and earthquakes/tornadoes) and social crisis (i.e. rampant corruption, AIDS/HIV, divorce rate/single parents, child abuse/violence, suicide, living together and teenage pregnancy).

Human beings become unethical due to six enemies (i.e. lust, anger, greed, fear, jealousy and hatred) embedded in our subconscious mind.

When the negative energy is activated, it emotionally influences one to be unethical.

In other word, human beings become unethical due to the influence of the negative energy unknowingly.

Although every human being has the six enemies rooted in them, the dominant energy prevails.

Some might be controlled or driven by anger, while others by jealousy.

This dominant force will influence our perception which we form from the five perceptions hearing, sensing, sight, taste and smell.

Negative perception will lead us to be unethical.

The fundamental causes originate from childhood conditioning, life experiences and the current living environment.

Childhood conditions play a vital role in the formation of a person.

Human beings are formed by the age of five years and the experience is strongly rooted in the subconscious mind.

The positive energy embedded will help them to be good citizens.

However, the negative energy (i.e. childhood wounds) will lead them to being challenging human beings due to low self-esteem caused by the feeling of being powerless, abandonment and worthlessness.

Life experiences may induce negative energy into us. Based on Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the third need being the social need plays a vital part.

If a person is always being eliminated in the development of society and country, he/she will end up being frustrated or angry, and in turn will take revenge without realising.

This is one of the reasons for the origin of criminals, gangsters and terrorists.

The current living environment, sometimes known as peer pressure, also is vital in inducing the negative energy.

In the process of meeting the needs of others or competing for equal status, human beings carry out unethical activities such as breach of trust, corruption, bribery and even discrimination.

In a nutshell, no human being would like to harm a fellow human being.

The six enemies embedded in our subconscious mind may lead to the unethical activities.

Unethical activities will not be eradicated until we understand the actual meaning, fundamental cause and origin of the fundamental cause of being unethical.

Unethical activities can be eradicated when the vision/mission of an individual’s life is noble and the nation’s administration has good governance, transparency, control and measures.

Everyone, especially the “haves” accept that the inherent quality of human being is to have self-integrity which leads to having full control over their life and work towards the betterment of human beings.

Unethical behaviour can only be eradicated when “every pulse of us is filled with love towards fellow human beings”.

By DR RAJENDRAN MUTHUVELOO
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang

U.S. to Overtake Saudi Arabia, Russia as World’s Top Energy Producer

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Oil derricks like this one outside of Williston, North Dakota, are part of a shale oil boom that has helped put the United States on track to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s leading oil producer.

Photograph by Gregory Bull, AP

In an indication how “fracking” is reshaping the global energy picture, the International Energy Agency today projected that the United States will overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer by 2017.

And within just three years, the United States will unseat Russia as the largest producer of natural gas.

Both results would have been unthinkable even few short years ago, but the future geography of supply has shifted dramatically due to what IEA calls America’s “energy renaissance.” To credit are the sometimes controversial technologies like hydraulic fracturing of shale and deepwater production that have enabled the industry to tap into abundant, unconventional sources of oil and gas. New energy frontiers have opened in North Dakota and Pennsylvania. (Related: “ Natural Gas Stirs Hope and Fear in Pennsylvania”)

The bottom line for the United States is fulfillment of a goal that eluded seven presidents over nearly four decades: energy independence. The U.S., which imports 20 percent of its total energy now, will be come largely self-sufficient by 2035, concluded the IEA’s annual World Energy Outlook, often viewed as the Bible of the industry. Add in Canada, which has its own unconventional production boom in Alberta’s oil sands, and the continent is set to be a net oil exporter by 2030.

“North America is at the forefront of a sweeping transformation in oil and gas production that will affect all regions of the world,” said Maria van der Hoeven, executive director of the IEA, a Paris-based organization charged with maintaining global energy security.  (Related Interactive: Breaking Fuel From Rock)

Catching Saudi Arabia

U.S. imports of oil are on track to fall from 10 million to 4 million barrels per day, Fatih Birol, IEA’s chief economist and the main author of the report, told a London news conference. However, he added, increased domestic production, including biofuel, only accounts for 55 percent of huge reduction in imported oil. The other 45 percent is due to the ramping up of improving federal fuel efficiency standards for cars and trucks.

According to IEA, by 2020, America’s oil production will reach 11.1 million barrels per day, up from 8.1 million in 2011. Saudi Arabia’s production, meanwhile, will decline from 11.1 million to 10.6 million barrels per day. The renewed U.S. reign at the top of world oil producers may be short-lived. By 2025, IEA projects, U.S. production will slip back to 10.9 million barrels per day, but Saudi Arabia’s will have increased only to 10.8 million barrels per day.

The picture on natural gas is even more dramatic. By 2015, the U.S. should be producing 679 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas, up from 604 bcm in 2010. That will be enough to edge out Russia, where production will be increasing too, but projected only to reach 675 bcm in three years. By 2020, the spread between the two nations will widen, with U.S. production of 747 bcm, well ahead of Russia’s forecast 704 bcm. The U.S. should become a net gas exporter by 2020, the report adds.

No Country an Island

“The global energy landscape is changing rapidly, recasting the roles of countries and fuels,” van der Hoeven said. What is happening in North America will certainly affect other countries worldwide, she added. “No country is an energy island.” For example, as America’s need for imported oil declines, Asia is rapidly taking up the slack. The report estimates that by 2035, fully 90 percent of Middle East oil exports will head for Asia. That’s a shift that will require Asian countries to put more resources toward keeping strategic shipping routes of oil secure. “There is a major new trade axis building between the Middle East and Asia,” Birol said.

Indeed, Iraq alone will see its exports to Asia jump from 50 percent of output to 80 percent. (Related: “Iraq Poised to Lead World Oil Supply Growth, but Obstacles Loom”) The IEA reiterated its forecast last month that Iraq’s production of oil would jump from 3 million to 8 million barrels per day by 2035, helping the war-torn country leapfrog over Russia to become the world’s second largest exporter of oil, after Saudi Arabia.

Another effect of the altered energy landscape are large variances in natural gas prices. A few years ago, global prices of natural gas changed little from region to region. But natural gas prices in Europe are now five times higher than in the U.S., and Asia’s are eight times greater. However, van der Hoeven said, as more gas becomes available globally for exports, that should push prices down outside the United States, too.

Demand Still Growing

The overall demand for energy worldwide should grow by a third between now and 2035, the report said, from 12,380 million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe) in 2010 to 16,730 Mtoe in 2035, an increase driven by the rise in living standards in China, India and the Middle East. The share of demand for energy in the developing world will jump from 55 percent in 2010 to 65 percent in 2035, powered by China, which will see its demand for energy increase by 60percent over that period. (Related: “Pictures: A Rare Look Inside China’s Energy Machine”)

Demand for energy in the mostly wealthy developed countries that make up the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will essentially be flat, IEA projects. Use of coal and oil to meet that demand should drop to just 42 percent from 57 percent today.

The IEA chided world governments for failing to do enough to improve energy efficiency, saying that two-third of the economic potential to improve efficiency is not being realized. If those efficiencies were tapped, it said, total energy demand between now and 2035 could be halved, without any decline in living standards.

Globally, demand for fossil fuels will continue to grow in absolute terms through 2035, but together their total share of the energy mix should drop from 81 percent to 75 percent. Worldwide demand for oil is forecast to grow to 99.7 million barrels per day in 2035, up from 87.4 million last year, with China alone accounting for half that amount.

By 2035, the IEA said, the price of oil is expected to be $125 per barrel in inflation-adjusted terms, though the nominal price is enough to induce sticker shock in 2012: $215.

Global natural gas demand should increase by 50 percent to 5 trillion cubic meters (tcm) in 2035. Within OECD countries, gas is overtaking coal as the fuel of choice for generating electricity. In the U.S., for instance, the amount of electricity generated by coal has fallen from 50 percent to 32 percent in just a few years. Although use of coal will continue to fall in the U.S., Europe and Japan, overall demand for coal should still grow by 21 percent through 2035, because of increasing use in China and India.

particularly Germany and Japan, are cutting back on nuclear power in the wake of the 2011 accident at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, nuclear power is still expected to account for 12 percent of global electricity generation by 2035, thanks to increased use of nuclear power in China, Korea and Russia.

Electric generation from renewables should grow from 20 percent in 2010 to 31 percent by 2035, IEA projects. Within OECD countries, most of that growth comes from increased wind energy production, while in non-OECD countries, hydro power is the main source of clean energy. Growth in demand for renewables, including biofuels, are still largely driven by government subsidies, the report said. Last year, those subsidies totaled $88 billion, a 24 percent increase from 2010.

Overall demand for electricity will skyrocket by more than 70 percent by 2035, reaching 32,000 Terrawatt hours (TWh), with almost all that increase coming from non-OECD countries, with China and India alone accounting for half of it. Prices for electricity overall should increase 15 percent by 2035, but some regions will pay much more than others. In the U.S., for instance, average household electricity prices in 2035 should be around 14 cents per kilowatt hours (kWh), while Europe’s will average closer to 25 cents per kWh. That big difference in the cost of electricity will likely give American industry a competitive advantage over European rivals, Birol said.

Amid its forecast for rising energy demand and production, the report, unsurprisingly, does not paint an optimistic picture of efforts to contain greenhouse gas emissions. IEA projects that energy-related carbon dioxide emissions will rise from an estimated 31.2 gigatonnes (Gt) last year to 37 Gt in 2035, which could cause a long-term average temperature increase of 3.6 degrees Celsius. In a nonbinding accord signed in 2009 in Copenhagen, nations agreed that the scientific view was that the temperature rise should be limited to 2 degrees Celsius, but efforts to forge a global agreement to cut fossil fuel emissions have been unsuccessful. (Related: “IEA Outlook: Time Running Out on Climate Change

This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.

Sources: Thomas K. Grose in London  For National Geographic News

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World’s Simplest Management Secret

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Forget what you learned in those management books. There’s really only one way to ensure that everyone on your team excels.

Management books have it all wrong. They all try to tell you how to manage “people.”

It’s impossible to manage “people”; it’s only possible to manage individuals. And because individuals differ from one another, what works with one individual may not work with somebody else.

Some individuals thrive on public praise; others feel uncomfortable when singled out.

Some individuals are all about the money; others thrive on challenging assignments.

Some individuals need mentoring; others find advice to be grating.

The trick is to manage individuals the way that THEY want to be managed, rather than the way that YOU’d prefer to be managed.

The only way to do this is to ASK.

In your first (or next) meeting with each direct report ask:

• How do you prefer to be managed?
• What can I do to help you excel?
• What types of management annoy you?

Listen (really listen) to the response and then, as far as you are able, adapt your coaching, motivation, compensation, and so forth to match that individual’s needs.

BTW, a savvy employee won’t wait for you to ask; he or she will tell you outright what works. When this happens, you’re crazy not to take that employee’s advice!

Unfortunately, most individuals aren’t that bold, which is why it’s up to you to find out how to get the best out of them.

And you’ll never get that out of a management book.

There is no one-size-fits-all in a world where everyone is unique.

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• How to Avoid Social Networking Pitfalls
• 6 Infallible Ways to Earn Respect
• 8 Easy Tweaks to Win More Customers

Geoffrey James writes the Sales Source column on Inc.com, the world’s most visited sales-oriented blog. His newly published book is Business to Business Selling: Power Words and Strategies From the World’s Top Sales Experts. @Sales_Source

Why Failure is so important to Success?

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Failure and more importantly studying others’ misfortunes is one of the most important educational tools we have. In fact there is an entire convention in the Bay Area for technology entrepreneurs, investors, developers and designers to study their own and others’ failures and prepare for success, thefailcon.com. We had the amazing opportunity to chat today with Caroline Cummings, VP of Marketing at Palo Alto Software. As the former co-founder and CEO of two technology companies, she’s experienced both start-up failures and successes, and has raised close to $1 million in investment capital.

Her first venture, OsoEco.com (healthy social shopping), dissolved in 2009. Her second venture, RealLead (mobile marketing for real estate) sold in early 2012. She has co-founded several successful entrepreneurial programs for the Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce, including Smart-ups Pub Talks and the Southern Willamette Angel Network. Not only has Caroline had an amazing career where she has had the opportunity to be both entrepreneurial and intrapreneurial, she strongly believes in paying it forward through mentorship. “I think the secret to the universe is mentoring,” said Cummings.

She has created what she calls “The 10 Reasons Why a Startup Fails” to help other entrepreneurs avoid some of the detrimental mistakes that she has made and witnessed over the years.

1. The Wrong Team – as Jim Collins noted in his book Good To Great, “start by getting the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats.”

2. The Single Founder – finding the right co-founder is critical. To find the right partner you have to be able to recognize the skills that you do not posses and be willing to admit that you have shortcomings.

3. The Wrong Legal Team – Caroline found that having legal counsel that was not well-versed in business law was one of the biggest mistakes that her failed business encountered! Make sure you have sound, credible counsel and do your due diligence.Caroline suggests that you need to trust your gut when it comes to your legal counsel but also has laid out some questions that you should ask any legal representative you are considering:

• Have they worked with your industry?
• How much time do they have to spend with you?
• Who else do you go to if they cannot be available to you (partners)?
• Have they raised rounds of financing before?
• If so, have they created/read a Capitalization Table?
• Have they done compensation packages?
• Do they have experience with IP protection?
• Do they have experience with Global Expansion?
• Do they have experience with exits, M&A’s, IPOs?

4. Boiling the Ocean – Is your concept completely new? Will you have to teach your potentials consumers about your product, will there be a learning curve? Can you borrow techniques that have already been created or partner with companies that already exist?

5. Not Talking to Customers – often entrepreneurs do all of their concepting and creation within a bubble either because they are afraid someone will steal their idea or because they want it to be perfect before releasing it to the world. Lean Start Up methodology has taught us to find our MVP (Most Viable Product) and roll with it. Test the product, concept or service to see if it is viable. It doesn’t have to be perfect right out of the gate, get feedback, make changes, pivot where necessary. Include your customers in your research and development.

6. Stealth Too Long – If you are too slow to draw, you may miss your opportune time to launch or worse yet, someone else might beat you to the finish line. Take advantage of all of the tools and information out there to help you get your business up and running (like http://www.chic-ceo.com and many easily accessible books like “The Art of the Start” for example.)

7. Stuck on Original Idea – although it is important to have a clear direction for your company, you must be nimble when it comes to having a successful startup. Opportunities arise, projects fail and situations change.

8. Taking Dumb Money – when you are raising capital and spending money other than what your company has generated, you get a say in the transaction. Don’t just take a deal because you need the money, be smart about what the money brings with it. Look for investors that are willing to mentor you, introduce you to contacts and take a significant interest in the success of your organization.

9. Founder-itis – “An organization faces founder’s syndrome or founder-itis as the scope of activities widen and number of stakeholders increase. Without an effective and inclusive decision making structure and process there is potential for conflict between newcomers who seek effective involvement with organizational development and the founder(s) who seek to dominate the decision making process. This can be very disruptive both to the organization and to the individuals concerned and should be carefully and clearly diagnosed and addressed quickly and decisively.^“

10. Spending Too Much Money – Often startups think that once they hit a certain threshold they can become less frugal. Frugality is a virtue that many startups have a hard time managing. It is important to be willing to spend where necassary but to manage the bottom line. Luxuries like fancy office spaces may not be necessary in the startup phase.

By Jody Coughlin, Forbes Contributor 
Jody Coughlin is the CMO and co-owner of Chic CEO – a free resource for female entrepreneurs. You can follow her and Chic CEO on twitter at @ChicCEO.

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Cost of vehicle ownership in Malaysia

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MALAYSIA is perceived to be one of the costlier countries in the region when it comes to vehicle prices. But industry observers believe that this is compensated by the fact that the country’s fuel prices are heavily subsidised, and that it also enjoys the lowest interest rates in South-East Asia.

“One should not compare vehicle cost of ownership in the region purely based on the price of the car alone,” says Malaysian Automotive Association president Datuk Aishah Ahmad.

According to data by the Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI), the average interest rate in Malaysia for a loan tenure of between 60 months and 108 months is between 2.5% and 3.6% – which is the lowest in Asean.

Interest rates in Vietnam is the highest, which has a flat rate of 16% per annum for loans that range between 12 months and 60 months.

“Given the fact that Malaysia’s interest rates are the lowest in the region, as well as the fact that fuel prices are subsidised, the total cost of vehicle ownership is one of the lowest in Asean,” says MAI chief executive officer Madani Sahari. The cost of interest rates used in MAI’s calculations is over 5 years.

The MAI is the think-tank for the Malaysian automotive industry.

Madani notes also that the price of subsidised RON 95 in Malaysia was one of the lowest in the region at RM1.90 per litre. Comparatively, the cost for the fuel in Thailand is RM3.80 per litre, Indonesia (RM3.35 per litre), Singapore (RM5.10 per litre), Vietnam (RM3.60 per litre) and the Philippines (RM3.20 per litre).

“In terms of road tax, we are also quite competitive in Asean. Malaysia is still cheaper compared with countries such as Thailand and Indonesia and comparative to Vietnam and the Philippines,” he says.

Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh says Malaysians are blessed to have their fuel subsidised.

“We have low fuel prices and interest rates. All of these factors have contributed to Malaysia’s low cost of vehicle ownership.”

Madani points out that over a five-year period, the average road tax and insurance in Malaysia was among the lowest in the region, costing RM1,990 and RM15,310 respectively.

The five-year cost of road tax and insurance in Singapore was the highest at RM13,779 and RM39,806 respectively, compared with Indonesia (RM9,186 and RM22,965), Thailand (RM2,297 and RM33,682) and the Philippines (RM1,531 and RM14,238).

When comparing vehicle prices, especially those of popular international marques such as Toyota, Honda and BMW, Madani points out that prices in Malaysia were still lower compared with countries such as Singapore and Vietnam.

According to data from the MAI, a 1.5-litre Toyota Vios (as at September 2012) costs RM87,313 in Malaysia but costs RM88,456 and RM303,136 in Vietnam and Singapore respectively. The Vios is cheapest in the Philippines at RM60,271.

A brand new 1.5-litre Honda City meanwhile retails for RM88,443 locally and costs RM106,090 and RM295,800 in Vietnam and Singapore respectively and lowest in the Philippines at RM61,472.

The BMW 3 series, a popular premium model that is represented in most Asean countries, costs RM238,800 in Malaysia. It costs RM248,200 and RM541,200 respectively in Vietnam and Singapore. It costs the least in Indonesia, retailing at RM191,900.

However, when taking into account the vehicles’ selling price, down payment and loan repayment (including interest rates), road tax and insurance, as well as the fuel prices of the different countries, the total vehicle cost of ownership for a 1.5-litre Toyota Vios is RM130,382, which is the second lowest in the region after Philippines, where the total vehicle cost of ownership is RM128,933.

Total vehicle cost of ownership for the Toyota Camry (2.5-litre) in Malaysia is also second lowest in the region at RM243,182. The total vehicle cost of ownership for the Toyota Altis (1.8-litre) in Malaysia is however the cheapest in the region at RM163,973.

After the Philippines, Malaysia also boasts the second lowest total vehicle cost of ownership for the Honda City (1.5-litre), Civic (1.8-litre) and Accord (2.4-litre) models in the region. Malaysia also has the lowest total vehicle cost of ownership for the BMW 3 series.

By EUGENE MAHALINGAM eugenicz@thestar.com.my

America’s Highest-Paying Office Jobs

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If you want to keep getting raises, get promoted to senior management. As tough as the economy has been, people in executive positions saw their paychecks increase by an average of 6.6% this year, to $108,800. That’s according to data just released by Compdata Surveys, a national compensation survey and consulting firm in Olathe, Kan.

Compdata looked at base salaries for 26 senior management jobs below C-level. For the eighth consecutive year, commercial lending directors take the top spot, with the highest average paychecks. They are earning $143,700, on average, in 2012, up from $139,000 last year.

In Pictures: America’s 10 Highest-Paying Office Jobs

“Commercial lending directors hold the top spot again this year and have for many years. Although their salary did take a slight hit during the recession, it was minor compared to other senior management positions,” says Amy Kaminski, a vice president at Compdata Surveys. “This is likely because of the nature of their work.”

Commercial lending directors are responsible for the development, administration and oversight of commercial lending policies. “Since a large number of new businesses fail within the first five years, a lot of pressure is put on commercial lending directors to ensure the loans they are granting are sound,” Kaminski adds. “The recession only amplified the difficulty of this position as the qualifications to obtain any type of loan became more rigid.”

Ranking second on the list, engineering directors are making an average of $131,300 this year, up 7.4% from 2011.

“Engineering directors have always been one of the higher paid senior management positions,” Kaminski says. “Engineers are in great demand, and finding a person with the right combination of education, experience and leadership skills to oversee a company’s engineering activities can be difficult. Now, with speculation of an engineering shortage looming, compounded with an increased emphasis on growing the manufacturing industry in the United States, engineering directors have become a valuable asset.”

In the No. 3 position, general managers are earning $131,200, up slightly from $127,900 last year, while No. 4 finance directors are making $125,000, which is 9.5% more than they made in 2011.

The biggest winners over a five-year period are material management directors, who are earning 18% more this year than in 2007, and accounting directors, whose paychecks have grown 17.8% in the same period.

“Over the past several years, an emphasis has been placed on lean manufacturing practices, with these practices even inching their way into other industries,” Kaminski says. “Keeping tight control over inventory levels or materials needed for businesses to function is a big element of implementing lean practices – and that is where materials management directors come in.”

They control, measure, and regulate efficient inventory levels, making sure to have enough materials on hand to conduct business. “The recession reinforced this practice, as budgets were slashed and employers demanded that no dollar be wasted,” she says. “Keeping the proper amount of materials on hand while trying to ensure minimal or no overstock is a balancing act at which material management directors need to excel.”

Of the 26 jobs included in the survey, only one—controller assistant—is earning less in 2012 than last year. These professionals manage the accounting functions under the general direction of the controller, including establishing and maintaining accounting principles, practices, and procedures. To hold this position, you need a Bachelor’s degree and six years of experience. They’re earning $81,400 this year, down 2.2% from 2011.

“We would not consider this a large enough decrease to show a trend, especially since this position did experience a higher than expected increase in 2011,” Kaminski says. When you look at the overall results of the past five years, this position is still trending upward.

So, why are some employers compensating their managers so well right now?

“It’s no secret that having the most talented and experienced individuals on staff are going to be the key for most businesses to successfully begin moving forward after the recession. However, some studies suggest as the economy continues to improve, more individuals will be looking to change employment,” Kaminski says. “Companies cannot afford to lose those needed to lead their workers towards economic growth.”

Providing competitive compensation plans is an important element in retaining those individuals. Although the unemployment rate is just under 8%, the pool of qualified leadership candidates is significantly smaller, “making the need to retain your successful leaders that much more important,” she concludes.

Salary Data for All 26 Management Jobs:

Commercial Lending Director – $143,700 a year, on average
Engineering Director – $131,300 a year, on average
General Manager – $131,200 a year, on average
Finance Director – $125,000
Information Systems Director – $121,500
Accounting Director – $118,600

Development Officer – $118,200
Marketing Director – $118,100
Information Security Director – $116,600
Human Resources Director – $116,000
Operations Director – $115,200
Controller – $114,800
Materials Management Director – $113,000
Plant Manager – $112,000
Mortgage Lending Director – $111,100
Nursing Services Director – $109,600
Senior Manufacturing Manager – $108,000
National Sales Manager – $106,300

Systems and Programming Manager – $100,600
Plant Engineering Manager – $98,900
Distribution Manager – $86,500
Quality Control Manager – $83,600
General Accounting Manager – $83,300
Advertising and Public Relations Manager – $82,500
Human Resources Manager – $82,000
Assistant Controller – $81,400

America’s 10 Highest-Paying Office Jobs

If you want to keep getting raises, get promoted to senior management. As tough as the economy has been, people in executive positions saw their paychecks increase by an average of 6.6% this year, to $108,800. That’s according to data just released by Compdata Surveys, a national compensation survey and consulting firm in Olathe, Kan.Here are the 10 highest-paying senior management jobs below C-level.

This is an update of a piece that ran previously.

Jacquelyn Smith, Forbes Staff

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Malaysian car prices to drop gradually?

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Revised NAP likely to include policy to reduce car prices over next 3-4 years

PETALING JAYA: The revised National Automotive Policy (NAP) will include a policy that will address the gradual reduction of car prices in the country, said an industry source.

 What happens to second-hand cars? Naza Group of Companies joint executive chairman SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin was quoted in a recent report as saying: if prices dropped, the resale value of a car would then plummet but the loan amount owed to banks (on cars already bought) would be unchanged.

“The Government, through the Malaysia Automotive Institute (MAI), had engaged us in the past few months to discuss on the matter,” he told StarBiz.

“There will be a policy that will tackle the gradual reduction of car prices in Malaysia. Details of this policy are expected to be made public in the near future,” he added.

The source said the policy would outline a structure to gradually reduce car prices over the next three to four years.

The Government has been considering it (the reduction of car prices) in the revised NAP and it was only a matter of time for this issue to be addressed,” said the industry source.

It is a known fact that the prices of cars are high in Malaysia compared with Thailand.

However, it has been argued that the cost of vehicle ownership in Malaysia is still among the most competitive in the Asean region, primarily due to the subsidised fuel prices, cheaper road tax and insurance premiums.

In a recent news report, MAI chief executive officer Madani Sahari was quoted as saying that Malaysia had the second lowest cost of vehicle ownership in the region after the Philippines.

According to him, the cost of vehicle ownership in Malaysia, compared to Thailand and Indonesia, was lower by 39% and 12% respectively.

In terms of petrol prices, Thailand was the highest, followed by Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, Madani said in the news report.

Meanwhile, on the point of car prices being slashed overnight via the reduction of vehicle excise duties, industry observers argue that the impact would be negative for existing buyers rather than first-time ones.

“If you’re a first-time buyer, it would be like a dream come true as it means you can now afford to buy a car that was too expensive previously,” said one industry observer who requested anonymity.

“For the existing buyer, it would mean that the resale value of the car would have diminished overnight,” he added.

It is also argued that the sudden drop in vehicle prices would have a severe impact on second-hand car dealers.

Those servicing existing car loans will also be severely affected.

In a local news report recently, Naza Group of Companies joint executive chairman SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin was quoted as saying that if taxes were scrapped, consumers would have to overpay bank loans taken for their vehicles.

In the report, Nasarudin claimed that if prices dropped, the resale value of a car would then plummet but the loan amount owed to banks would be unchanged.

By EUGENE MAHALINGAM  eugenicz@thestar.com.my/Asia News Network

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Look, man threw dog into manhole!

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Scores vent anger at Somali dog killer

PETALING JAYA: Scores of people are lodging police reports against a Somali student and his friends who killed a dog by throwing it into a manhole recently.

The student had been taking care of the dog named Kanilla while its 19-year-old Jordanian owner was away on a month’s holiday at his home country.

People were further infuriated after watching a recording of the incident on YouTube which shows the perpetrators running away laughing after throwing the dog into the manhole.

The video has since been removed.

Lawyer C. H Tan, who lodged his report at the Bukit Jelutong police station on Wednesday evening with three others, said he was livid over what had happened.

“When I see acts of cruelty perpetrated against animals, I feel a dire and almost desperate need for justice to be dispensed against the perpetrators,” said Tan.

“Even worse was that the entirety of the deranged act was captured on video as some sick memorial,” he said.

The mass police reports were initiated by canine welfare project Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB).

MDDB rescue coordinator Irene Low urged the public to lodge more police reports to express their disdain over what had happened.

“MDDB has provided a sample to be copied and pasted when lodging police reports on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/MalaysianDogsDeserveBetter,” said Low.

Angry animal lovers also bombarded the Facebook page of the university, in which the Somali is believed to be a student, with comments.

A former student Colin Kuan urged the establishment to pay heed to what had happened.

Business owner Nortanti Latip urged the university to hand the perpetrators to the police and ensure they are sent back to their country of origin.

Meanwhile, a friend of the perpetrator said he believed the Somali student and others involved in the incident had been drinking.

He also said the perpetrator was very frightened and was in hiding.

“The news is everywhere with so many people angry at him,” he added – The Star/Asia News Network

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How low can cruel people go?

How low can cruel people go?

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Somali who ‘helped’ to care for pet throws it into manhole

PETALING JAYA: The deliberate killing of a pet dog by two men who were caught on video throwing it into a manhole has raised the hackles of animal lovers.

Worse, the persons who killed the dog had earlier volunteered to care for the pet, claims the owner, a Jordanian student.

“I went back to Jordan on June 24. My housemate’s friend, a Somali student, offered to care for my dog Kanilla for a month,” said the 19-year-old, adding that the female dog was a cross between a Pitt Bull and a Dalmatian.

On July 19, the owner was shocked when he received a message from the Somali student claiming that Kanilla had run away.

Further distress awaited the owner when he came back to Malaysia on July 26.

“My housemate showed me a video of the Somali student and another person throwing Kanilla into a manhole in Cyberjaya,” he said.

He said he was broken-hearted over the cruelty inflicted upon Kanilla.

Cruelty comes in many forms but this is particularly very shocking. I urge the authorities to take the necessary action and to make a stand that animal abuse would not be tolerated in Malaysia. — CHRISTINE CHIN

The owner claimed that the perpetrators had used his housemate’s laptop to transfer some files, including the offending video, and had forgotten to erase them after that.

He has lodged a police report at the Cyberjaya police station on July 31 with help from the Selangor Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

“Cruelty comes in many forms but this is particularly very shocking,” said SPCA chairman Christine Chin.

“I urge the authorities to take the necessary action and to make a stand that animal abuse would not be tolerated in Malaysia.”

Stills of the video were also forwarded to canine welfare project Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better (MDDB) which posted the pictures on its Facebook page.

The posting garnered countless comments from enraged people from Malaysia as well as overseas,

Among those who commented was renowned bassist Andy Peterson who said: “Get the one who took the picture too.”

A Malaysian living in Canada, Juliana Vincent-Phillips, said the perpetrators should be deported, adding that “no one will miss these scums”.

MDDB rescue coordinator Irene Low said more police reports were being lodged to lend support to the SPCA’s initial report.

She urged the public to obtain the sample report from the MDDB Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/MalaysianDogsDeserveBetter

The Star/Asia News Network

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Look, man threw dog into manhole!