By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Jan 16: Sarawak should consider mounting a legal challenge against the Petroleum Development Act 1974 (PDA 1974) following Petroliam Nasional Berhad’s (PETRONAS) move to seek court clarification on laws governing its operations in the state, political pundit Dato Peter Minos said.
In a statement, Minos questioned PETRONAS’ intention in going to court, suggesting that the legal move could amount to a challenge against Sarawak’s authority over its oil and gas resources.
“I wonder what PETRONAS is up to. What is its real intention in going to the court to seek clarification on the laws governing its operations in Sarawak,” he said.
Minos said the move was surprising, as there had been expectations that issues between PETRONAS and Sarawak had been resolved amicably following discussions between Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg last year.
“We would have thought that when the Prime Minister and our Premier met and talked last year, things between PETRONAS and Sarawak were sorted out amicably… Apparently PETRONAS is still not clear and not happy,” he said.
According to Minos, the laws governing oil and gas in Sarawak were already clear, making PETRONAS’ legal action unnecessary.
“The laws, both OMO58 and PDA74, are very clear. PETRONAS lawyers cannot be that naive and ignorant not to know,” he said, referring to the Oil Mining Ordinance 1958 (OMO58) and the PDA 1974.
He suggested that PETRONAS’ latest court move could be interpreted as a direct challenge to Sarawak’s oil and gas laws, particularly OMO58, which predates PDA 1974.
“PETRONAS’ latest legal move is a challenge to Sarawak. Maybe a challenge to OMO58 and Sarawak’s related laws, laws that were passed long before PDA74,” he said.
Minos argued that Sarawak had historically taken a reasonable and accommodating approach in its dealings with PETRONAS, including opting for negotiations rather than confrontation.
“Sarawak and especially our Premier has been very reasonable and accommodating. Thus we expect PETRONAS should also play fair and be reasonable,” he said.
He recalled that in 2016, when the late Tun Pehin Sri Adenan Satem was chief minister, the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution demanding a 20 per cent share of revenue from PETRONAS.
“But PETRONAS resisted,” he said, adding that Sarawak later chose another route that he described as “very fair and reasonable to all parties”.
However, Minos said PETRONAS’ decision to go to court now raised the question of whether Sarawak should respond with its own legal challenge, including questioning the validity of PDA 1974 itself.
“Maybe Sarawak should think of challenging PDA74 in court, a law that was passed without the consent of Sarawak’s DUN and is thus faulty and mala fide and not enforceable,” he said.
He further questioned whether PETRONAS had any right to extract Sarawak’s oil and gas resources.
“Or challenge PETRONAS whether PETRONAS has any right at all to suck dry Sarawak’s oil and gas,” he said.
Drawing an analogy with Sarawak’s Land Code 1957, Minos argued that oil and gas should be treated with the same level of protection as land.
“See our Land Code 1957, which is still subsisting and operating, that states no force on earth can grab our land. To me, OMO58 is in that category… that nobody and no force on earth can grab and suck our oil and gas without our permission,” he said.
Minos added that the courts could ultimately be asked to clarify these matters.
“We can ask the courts to clarify. And see how,” he said. — DayakDaily
