KUCHING: Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros) will now be delegated with the appropriate powers to implement the Sarawak Oil Mining Ordinance (OMO) 1958 as Sarawak exercises its constitutional rights related to oil and gas activities in the state.
Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said this in a statement issued immediately after the Federal Court in Putrajaya dismissed Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) application for leave to commence proceedings against Sarawak Friday morning.
“This decision paves the way for the State Government of Sarawak to enforce its state laws from July 1, 2018 as announced by the Chief Minister earlier this year,” it said.
Starting July 1, the state government would regulate the downstream and upstream oil and gas (O&G) industry in accordance with state laws including the OMO 1958, the Land Code of Sarawak and the Gas Distribution Ordinance 2016.
In Putrajaya earlier yesterday, Chief Judge of Malaya Tan Sri Ahmad Maarop dismissed the Petronas application for leave to commence proceedings against the Sarawak Government and ordered the national oil company to pay RM50,000 in costs to the state government.
Petronas had filed an application on June 6 for leave to commence proceedings under Article 4 (4) of the Federal Constitution to seek a declaration that the Petroleum Development Act 1974 (PDA) applied in respect of the regulation of upstream activities in Sarawak.
It sought the court’s declaration that the PDA was duly enacted by Parliament, and it states that Petronas is the exclusive regulatory authority for the upstream industry throughout Malaysia, including in Sarawak. The company had also sought a declaration that the OMO was impliedly repealed by the PDA.
Petronas was represented by lawyer Datuk Malik Imtiaz Sarwar while Sarawak state legal counsel Datuk Seri J. C. Fong appeared for the state government. – BERNAMA
