This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on September 5, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd said it had undergone proper accreditation and followed all due diligence required by the Ministry of Finance (MoF), before being appointed a fuel provider for government vehicles.

Petron said it first applied to be a government vendor in March 2015 and received the MoF’s approval in November 2015 to be an equipment supplier.

“We reapplied specifically to be one of the fuel suppliers for government vehicles in October 2016,” it said in a statement yesterday. “After an extensive process, we were only accredited as one of the fuel suppliers in August 2018.”

The Pakatan Harapan administration has received much flak following Petron’s appointment as a fuel provider for government vehicles, with several parties arguing Petron is connected to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s son, Mirzan Mahathir.

The MoF clarified last weekend that Petron was only appointed a fuel provider for government vehicles after two years of discussions, following an application that the company submitted under the previous government.