I refer to the Malaysiakini report It's only ‘16 sen per litre in Venezuela’.

By consulting the CIA World Factbook, the data of each country's net annual oil export per capita was compiled. Seven net oil-exporting countries not on Dr Wan Azizah's list were added and are placed in parentheses. The net export is calculated as the difference between exports and imports. This method was chosen over calculating the difference between production and consumption as some oil produced is kept as reserves.

The annual oil consumption per capita and total annual consumption was also calculated from CIA data. Countries are then ranked in descending order according to the calculated export/ consumption ratios (E/C Ratio). The price of petrol (Source: Wikipedia) and the countries' gross domestic products are included as reference.

As we can see from the list, three out of five countries with lower E/C ratios have cheaper petrol than Malaysia. Bahrain is a small, wealthy state that only consumes 11.3 million barrels of oil a year and can definitely afford a large subsidy. In the case of the Turkmens and the Egyptians, perhaps our government would like to consult them on how they are able to maintain their low petrol prices despite low export to consumption ratios and lower GDP per capita.

Of the countries with higher E/C ratios, only Russia, Iran and Colombia's ratios are remotely comparable to that of Malaysia's. Of these countries, Russian and Colombia actually have higher petrol prices than Malaysia, with Russia's GDP per capita on par and Colombia's half that of Malaysia. The remaining eight countries have vastly higher E/C ratios than Malaysia and can maintain low petrol prices without hurting government revenues too much. Two countries worth a special mention are Nigeria and Norway.

Nigeria has a per capita GDP between a sixth and a seventh that of Malaysia's and the lower cost and standard of living will be reflected in the price of petrol. Besides, her population is five times the size of Malaysia's but the country only consumes over half the amount of oil Malaysia does annually.

Norway, like Malaysia, is a country endowed with natural resources and her petroleum industry is state-owned. This exceptionally well-run country is consistently at the top of various international league tables. The high standard of living and the country's commitment to maintaining a low carbon footprint is reflected in the high cost of petrol, all this despite having an E/C ratio a whopping 19 times that of Malaysia's.

Malaysia should aspire to run Petronas like how Norway manages StatoilHydro. Whilst not absolutely free from controversy itself, StatoilHydro is more transparent in its day-to-day running than our secretive Petronas. Petronas' accounts since its inception should be made public, audited by the auditor-general and made answerable to parliament.

All major players in the world economy bar Japan are now facing inflation. In the successful ones, inflation is coupled with a rise in income. The problem with Malaysia is that our real incomes have risen at only a fraction of the rate of inflation since the pre-1997 economic boom.

The people have a desire to move towards a higher standard of living; but they lack the ability in moving up the economic value chain. Have we actually progressed beyond being a manufacturing base? We might have benefitted from technology transfer, but have we actually inherited the latest and best arsenal of ideas the technologically-advanced nations have?

When can our universities produce graduates who can design vehicles, engines, game consoles, digital cameras, mobile phones and laptops that are in demand worldwide? When can we write software, produce films, farm the best produce, design drugs and medical equipment, spearhead the fashion industry, excel in customer service and provide top-notch and innovative financial services to an international clientele?

Until then, I'm afraid we are but an over-glorified producer of raw materials. We rarely, if ever, design any of the high-tech equipment that are churned out from our factories. Worse, we are no more the darlings for outsourcing. The government is trying to prevent an economic meltdown whereby multinationals pullout of the country for cheaper destinations, and so is keen to suppress wages.

We will be hard-pressed to generate real wealth by moving up the value chain as long as our economy remains over-reliant on oil and multinationals, our talent lost to other countries and our environment stifling towards creativity.