GPS won’t compromise on state’s rights over its O&G: Chief Minister
MIRI: As long as Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) rules Sarawak, the state’s rights over its oil and gas resources will be upheld.
GPS chairman Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg said this can be achieved through the enforcement of the Oil Mining Ordinance (OMO) 1958.
The chief minister said this is one sure way to enable Sarawak to benefit from its oil and gas resources which have been exploited by outsiders for decades.
“The ordinance gives Sarawak the power to regulate and issue licences for its upstream oil and gas industry. Petronas is not exempted from this,” he stressed.
“As long as GPS rules Sarawak we will ensure this right is maintained,” he reiterated.
Abang Johari went on to say that Sarawak wants “real” participation in its oil and gas industry.
He said it is for this reason that Sarawak must upscale its manpower skills in the industry.
“We must harness new technologies in the industry. We need experienced and knowledgeable people so that we can benefit from it.
“Why cannot we benefit from our resources? Why are we seeing outsiders benefiting from our resources?
“In 1910 when the first oil well was drilled in Miri, we didn’t have the required knowledge and skills, so we worked with Shell and gained some benefits.
“Today, more than a hundred years have passed, Sarawakians are overseas managers and presidents and vice-presidents, and so on and so forth. In other words, we have developed and progressed in the industry.
“What GPS is trying to do is, with the experience we now have, we want to develop Sarawak’s petroleum industry, which is why we established Petros.
“Sarawak is a rich state but the people are poor as can be seen from their per capita income. With this background I sent my teams to London to find and secure important documents related to our petroleum industry and, guess what, we found the documents!”
He reiterated that the documents justify several matters pertaining to Sarawak’s rights over its petroleum, the most important being our legal ownership of our resources as well as upstream and downstream activities and value-added products.
“Legally we have the right to our land, so companies must have permits from the Sarawak government to explore for or exploit our oil and gas.
“Up till today, I am skeptical with what some people said about our oil and gas reserves. I was the Minister of Industrial Development in 1988 and SHELL CEO at the time was Christopher Knight, who brought me offshore. I asked him how much oil reserve Sarawak had left, and he said about 20 years.
“Now is 2019, we still have plenty of reserves. To me what that means is either their data was badly wrong or they were not telling me the truth because they didn’t want Sarawak to fight for its oil and gas like what we are doing now,” the chief minister said.
During the two-day seminar, the delegates came up with resolutions or action plans which they presented to Abang Johari at the closing.
Among the resolutions are: (1) Support the state government’s efforts to reaffirm it rights of ownership and control of Sarawak’s oil and gas resources via OMO58 in accordance with the Malaysia Agreement (MA) 1963, the Sarawak Constitution and Federal Constitution; (2) Support Sarawak government’s desire to engage with the federal government towards having mutually agreeable formula while working towards the resolutions on the legality issues so as not to disrupt the progress and development of Sarawak’s oil and gas industry and businesses; (3) Ensure sustainable, secure and affordable development of Sarawak’s oil and gas resources through a comprehensive master plan covering the total oil and gas value chain including considering the establishment of a sovereign oil and gas wealth fund for the benefit of future generations of Sarawakians; (4) Enhance Sarawak’s mineral management authority; (5) Call for the establishment of a Sarawak petroleum consultative council; (6) Call for the Sarawak government to expeditiously establish local control baseline and policy and the establishment of Sarawak Oil and Gas innovation centre (SOGIC) in Miri to promote innovation and initiatives future development in oil and gas.
Also present at the closing of the seminar were Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan, Petra Jaya MP Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, SOGSE 2019 advisor cum Dewan Usahawan Bumiputera Sarawak (DUBS) Datu Abang Helmi Ikhwan, SOGSE 2019 chairman and organiser Kadier Sahib, and representatives of 20 companies.
Nearly 300 delegates took part in the SOGSE 2019 where 25 booths were set up.
SOGSE 2019 was organised by the Dewan Usahawan Bumiputera Sarawak (DUBS).
