KUCHING, Feb 1: Suarah Petroleum Group Bhd (SPG), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), is looking to revive the glory days of the oil and gas (O&G) industry in Sarawak.
Its board member Dr Abang Hatta believed the organisation has the ability to rejuvenate the O&G industry in Sarawak to what it had experienced in the early days, where the industry flourished abundantly.
“To recap, some notable achievements for the O&G industry in Sarawak included the first old well in the country — the Grand Old Lady, the first refinery in the country, the first sea line pipe laying including a technical training centre that was second to none.
“It is our desire to revive the O&G industry in Miri to what it was during the glory days. Only this time, it will be one that embraces the latest technologies such as the artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), robotics and so on.
“We’ll make Miri the ‘playground’ for O&G researchers to develop our own technologies in line with those of the rest of the world,” he said in a forum “Fight for Rights, Fight it Right” organised by SPG here today.
Hatta said with the vast amount of O&G resources available in Sarawak, the state could have a flourishing downstream oil and gas business with petrochemicals complexes comparable to the one in Gebeng, Pahang and Pengerang in Johor.
He opined that the state could potentially have a full fledged technological university evolving from Shell’s training school and perhaps a full-fledged O&G museum in Lutong, Miri.
However, Hatta said the global O&G industry’s outlook remained challenging.
“The lacklustre business environment for the O&G are due to dwindling traditional reserves, low oil prices, emergence of new hydrocarbon sources, increasing penetration of renewable energy, electric vehicles, strict carbon regulations and better energy storage technologies,” he explained.
Meanwhile, SPG deputy president Abang Iskandar Abang Muas believed that Sarawak has vast potential to develop its own oil and gas industry given the appropriate infrastructure and resources.
He observed that there are vast amount of oil fields in offshore Sarawak, which are yet to be tapped.
Abang Iskandar disclosed that there are more than 200 oilfields offshore Sarawak that can be explored and developed to generate revenue for the state and maximise socioeconomic benefits for the people.
“We must have a comprehensive masterplan (to develop the O&G business). There are 34 gas (field) and 26 oil fields producing 850,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) daily and valued at approximately RM200 million per day.
“Besides, there are more than 200 discovered fields but undeveloped. It holds 37 per cent of Malaysia oil reserves and 57 per cent of gas reserves,” he said.
He claimed that Petronas does not have a masterplan to develop the O&G industry in Sarawak and most of the time, the national oil corporation is doing things on an ad-hoc basis.
Iskandar said SPG is willing to work with the state government to ensure that the development of the O&G industry benefits both the regulator and investors. — DayakDaily
