MIRI: Sarawak’s sovereign wealth fund or oil fund using revenue from the State’s petroleum sector, will emulate Norway.
This is to ensure the long-term management of the financial resources of the state for the future, said Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg.
“I’ve directed our officers to carry out a thorough study on how we can best manage and improve our fund similar to the Norwegians,” he pointed out today when speaking at the earth-breaking ceremony of the Federation of the Orang Ulu Associations of Sarawak (Forum) building project here.
With Sarawak now having a full regulatory authority of the upstream and downstream aspects of the oil and gas industry, Abang Johari said it would not only benefit the state but its people too.
“I’m not doing this for myself, but for the future generations of Sarawakians,” he said.
Thus, he called on people from various communities in Sarawak, regardless of their political backgrounds, to stand united with one another.
“On July 1, 2018, Sarawak started to regulate the downstream and upstream oil and gas industry in accordance to its laws including the Oil Mining Ordinance (OMO) 1958, the Land Code of Sarawak and the Gas Distribution Ordinance 2016, after the Federal Court dismissed the leave application filed by Petronas to commence proceedings against the State government over the ownership right to Sarawak’s oil and gas.
Petronas had sought declaration that the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 applied with regard to the regulatory control of upstream activities within Sarawak and that the Sarawak OMO 58 was impliedly repealed by the PDA.
“We brought them to court and we won. The state’s OMO 58 is an applicable law under the Constitution,” said Abang Johari.
