PM suggests Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak own stakes in Petronas
KUCHING: Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has invited both Sarawak and Sabah to explore the idea of the three territories of Malaya, Sarawak, and Sabah owning stakes in Petronas.
This was brought up during a 90-minute meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Putrajaya on Monday between Dr Mahathir, Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg and Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.
The meeting was on issues pertaining to the rights of Sarawak and Sabah over the oil and gas resources in the two states.
The invitation took into consideration that the national oil company is a global oil company having concessions spanning overseas, particularly Central Asia, Africa, and North America, especially Canada.
Abang Johari had told the Prime Minister that Sarawak would study the proposal in-depth.
Dr Mahathir was also notified that Sarawak was strengthening Petros’ participation in both upstream and downstream activities of the oil and gas industry in Sarawak under the Oil Mining Ordinance (OMO) 1958 and relevant provisions in the Sarawak Constitution.
On November 21, Sarawak took legal action against Petronas for not paying the five per cent State Sales Tax (SST) on petroleum products.
This five per cent SST on petroleum products was approved by the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) last November and took effect on January 1 this year.
Meanwhile, other oil and gas companies such as Shell and Murphy Oil had already paid the tax.
