By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Dec 18: The Sarawak government will do an in-depth study on the proposal by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah to take up stakes in Petronas.
A press statement from the Chief Minister’s Office today revealed that this matter was raised during the closed door meeting between Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal and Dr Mahathir on Monday (Dec 16) in Putrajaya.
Dr Mahathir has invited Sarawak and Sabah to explore the idea of the three territories of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah owning stakes in Petronas.
The idea was mooted taking into consideration that the national oil company is a global oil company with concessions spanning overseas particularly Central Asia, Africa and North America, especially Canada.
In the meeting, Abang Johari has expressed to the Prime Minister that Sarawak has to study the proposal in-depth.
He also informed the Prime Minister that Sarawak is strengthening Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros)’s participation in both upstream and downstream activities of the oil and gas industry in Sarawak under the Oil Mining Ordinance (OMO) 1958 and relevant provisions in the Sarawak Constitution.
Monday’s meeting, which lasted one-and-a-half hours, was to discuss issues pertaining to the rights of Sarawak and Sabah over oil and gas resources in the two Bornean states.
The meeting was a separate forum from the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) Steering Committee to discuss and address issues relating to Sarawak’s and Sabah’s oil and gas rights vis-a-vis the Federal Constitution and Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63). — DayakDaily
