By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Dec 21: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (PETRONAS) must recognise the importance of supporting Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros) to enable the Sarawak-owned oil and gas company to become a significant industry player.
Highlighting this, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, however, emphasised that Putrajaya would not compromise on the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) or the role of PETRONAS as a national oil company.
“The Petroleum Development Act is a national act, and PETRONAS is a national company. I must make it very clear that there is no compromise on this, and it does not matter what the demands are.
“Sarawak decided to set up Petros. Some voices say Petros is the sole (gas) aggregator and will decide on everything. That’s not the view of the State, neither is it my view,” he told a media briefing in Subang Jaya as reported by The Edge Malaysia today (Dec 21).
Anwar stressed the need to respect PETRONAS’ position as a national entity while honouring all contractual obligations without exception.
“It is necessary for PETRONAS to work with Petros for all new oil and gas activities going forward,” he said.
The Prime Minister assured that efforts are underway to reach an amicable resolution to the ongoing dispute between PETRONAS and Petros regarding natural gas distribution in Sarawak.
“My engagement with Abang Jo (Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg) has been excellent. We want an amicable solution to this issue.
“These are essentially the broad parameters that we believe. They (Sarawak) recognise the national role, while we recognise the State role, and we should work together. There are also extreme voices (views) from both sides, but I think the interest relations will prevail,” he added.
The prolonged negotiations between the two parties, initially expected to conclude by Oct 1, have been attributed to the complexities of Sarawak’s Gas Distribution (Amendment) Ordinance 2023.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said noted in October that discussions were ongoing.
In July, Petros signed gas sale agreements with Sarawak Petchem Sdn Bhd and Sarawak Energy, following announcements in the Sarawak Legislative Assembly that Petros would assume the role of sole gas aggregator in the State.
Currently, most of PETRONAS’ liquefied natural gas (LNG) export cargoes from Malaysia are either sourced from Sarawak or transported via the State’s gas infrastructure. — DayakDaily
