By Joseph Lakai
Has anyone of you really known what been in the Petronas agreement with Sabah about oil & gas royalty? Why do we have such a miniscule percentage of revenue while the federal government has the most of it?
That is the topic that I want to talk about in this post, since Petronas is once again tapping out our newly found resources, I can’t help to think about Sabah’s.
Under the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974, the government of Sabah signed an agreement granting Petronas the right to extract and earn revenue from petroleum found in the territorial waters of Sabah in exchange for 5% in annual revenue as royalties.
Because the nature of the agreement, it is possible for the state government to review back the agreement and give more revenue and opportunities to Sabah. Petronas has already spread it wings out of Malaysia for a more valuable and high revenue joint venture.
For example, in December 2009, Petronas and Royal Dutch Shell signed a deal to develop Iraq’s oilfield of Majnoon, with 60% going to Royal Dutch Shell and 40% to Petronas. And just recently, they have also acquired 30% stake in GMR Energy Singapore Pte Ltd in Singapore.
Among the demands that was proposed for the agreement is increment of the oil royalty sharing of 20%, jobs for Sabahan Oil and Gas contractors, and setting up of Oil and Gas industries in Sabah itself.
As I mentioned on my previous post, the development of Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline (SSGP) is a great step towards the changing the lifestyle of our people, especially from the rural side. We deserve more than just 5% of the revenue given on resources siphoned from our shores every year.
In fact, we should demand more in terms of job opportunity and also being able to play a greater role in the industry.
We are not in short of talented young people who are eager to work in this industry, I urge those who are left out to capture this opportunity, do not sit and wait for this opportunity to fall on your lap. We Sabahan cannot simply repeat the mistake in terms of being loser in this deal, thus losing out the opportunity to be in control of the industry.
Remember while we still have the vast resources and the small window of opportunity reopened again, we will never know when will be there another opportunity like this in the future.
Joseph Lakai is a Murut pilot and an engineer, he is a Vice Chairman of Parti Maju Sabah (SAPP), N-34 Liawan CLC
$450 BILLION MISSING FROM PETRONAS....
ReplyDeleteIF we can that we are being robbed blind- why beg for what belongs to us but controlled by a foreign government?
The oil issues underlines our colonials status and subjugation to Malayan hegemony.
We would have been wealthy and well developed independent countries- Sabah and Sarawak.
But we have been reduced to states of dependency. We are dependencies not independent states!
Colonies.
16 September serves only to rub acid in the wound to remind us of our colonial status.
Why be reduced to beggers?
Why not organise to drive out the Malayan occupier and take back our country?
We don't owe them anything!
The Malayans need Sabah and Sarawak more than we need them!
Without Sabah and Sarawak- there is no Malaysia!
In my mind I have tweezed out the thorn. If you are like minded, connect to the thought and believe
ReplyDeleteWE SHOULD ALL DO THAT TOGETHER & RID OURSELVES IF THIS EVIL SCOURGE OF SABAH & SARAWAK!
DeleteSTART WITH 16 SEPTEMBER - A BLACK DAY FOR ALL WHO LOVE FREEDOM & INDEPENDENCE FROM COLONIAL RULE!
Dengan pelaksanaan projek SAMUR diharap Sabah akan dapat menjana ekonomi dan rakyat juga mendapat peluang kerja yang luas dalam sektor ini.
ReplyDeleteProjek SAMUR itu dijangka mewujudkan sekurang-kurangnya 400 pekerjaan untuk rakyat tempatan sebaik sahaja ia beroperasi sepenuhnya.
DeleteWaht is Samur to do with lifting Sabah from poverty? projek Samur hires foreigners to do this job and town will flooded with blangadeshis workers
Delete400 pekerjaan dijamin akan diberi kepada sesiapa yang sanggup menerima gaji paling rendah terutamanya pekerja2 Indonesia, filipina, bangla, sri lanka.
DeleteManakala posisi tinggi akan diberi keutamaan kepada orang Malaya yang beragama Islam.
Kalau bukan org Malaya dan beragama Islam jangan harapla dapat kerja sana.
Deleteprojek ini jika siap sepenuhnya pasti akan memberi byk manfaat kepada penduduk Sabah.
DeleteProjek2 di Sabah adalah untuk manfaat rakyat Sabah dan Sabah sendiri.
DeleteProjek yang akan dapat membantu penduduk dikawasan tersebut. Ini akan dapat meningkatkan pendapatan rakyat.
DeleteKerajaan Negeri akan memastikan yang mana Sabah akan mendapat hak mereka sendiri.
Deleteprojek SAMUR dijangkan akan memberikan manfaat ekonomi yang besar kepada Sabah.
DeleteProjek Samur adalah untuk rakyat Sabah.
DeleteEkonomi Sabah akan semakin meningkat dengan ada nya projek Samur ini.
DeleteThe agreement did not come for Sabah like Robbinhood but stole our rich and make us become poorest.
ReplyDeleteLike what Hj.Amde Sidik said:"Let us make a review and totally new agreement but this time we decide"!
We must instead of merely agree to their terms to dry up all heavenly given oil in underground and oil on earthly ground belong to Sabah.
No more big sum of share taken away by GLC or monitored company from Federal.Who are they?
INI KALI LAH!
Mereka yang pakar perlu mengkaji sebaik mungkin perjanjian minyak Sabah
ReplyDeleteJoseph Lakai.. kenapa kau mau juga bersekongkol dengan parti politik yang telahpun membawa bencana kepada negeri ini?
ReplyDeletemereka timbulkan pelbagai isu untuk kepentingan politik mereka.
Deletememandangkan Joseph Lakai mau jadi hero dalam isu RCI, eloklah beliau jelaskan secara terperinci tentang bagaimana royalti itu boleh dinaikkan ke paras tertentu dengan mengambilkira kos operasi dan subsidi petronas..
ReplyDeletedia hanya banyak komplen saja, tapi tidak bagi apa-apa idea pun.
DeleteJoseph Lakai pun bukan tau apa-apa juga tu..pandai cakap sahaja.
Deleteharap usaha yang sedang dibuat oleh CM berhubung royalti, akan dapt memberikan hasil yang baik kepada Sabah.
ReplyDeletePM pasti akan mencari jalan penyelesaian berkenaan royalti minyak untuk kepentigan rakyat Sabah.
DeleteJoseph lakai ni hanya banyak mengkritik saja, tapi tidak menyumbangkan apa2 yang bernas pun.
ReplyDeleteBiofuels for transport, including ethanol, biodiesel and several other liquid and gaseous fuels, have the potential to displace a substantial amount of petroleum-based fuels worldwide over the next few decades
ReplyDeleteIn Sandakan, an Education Hub is being developed and in Lahad Datu the gas-fired power plant to supply electricity to the east coast districts.
ReplyDeletePM says there will be more petrochemical projects in Sabah after the SAMUR plant at Banting , Sipitang is completed.
ReplyDeletePasti akan lebih banyak projek yang akan di buat oleh kerajaan untuk rakyat Sabah.
DeleteSOGCA’s president Datuk Iskandar Malik said Petronas was actually showing its sincerity by bringing the development of oil and gas to Sabah.
ReplyDeleteHe said Petronas belongs to every Malaysian and we should share opportunities given by the national oil corporation.
The State will have a bigger budget to spend when we have more oil royalty money, allowing the government to implement projects to improve the people’s wellbeing.
ReplyDeleteIn 2011, Petronas announced a whopping investment and its commitment to a combined capital expenditure of RM45 billion to implement an integrated oil and gas master plan for Sabah, involving the development of several upstream and downstream projects over the next few years. The announcement received positive reactions and all-round support from the majority of the people and state leaders alike, although some said there was still room for improvement in Petronas’ presence in Sabah.
ReplyDeleteChief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman, who is also State Finance Minister, assured that the state government would extend its full support and assistance to facilitate Petronas-related activities in Sabah.Citing the Sabah Ammonia-Urea (Samur) plant project owned by Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd in Sipitang, Musa said Sabah firms were set to be awarded contracts worth some RM600 million in the project.
ReplyDeleteThis also signifies the earnestness of Petronas in giving Malaysians in Sabah opportunities to be players in the business of oil and gas as expressed by the Chief Minister with regards to the Samur project.Former head of state Tun Ahmadshah Abdullah said in November last year that Petronas’ investments to develop Sabah’s downstream and upstream oil and gas industries would have a big impact on the state’s economy; and that Sabahans should be proud of the mega project, slated for completion in 2013.
ReplyDeleteThe discovery of several oil fields offshore Sabah was expected to help drive the state’s economy and create job opportunities for Sabahans, he said, adding the nation’s oil, gas and energy sector was expected to need around 21,000 highly-skilled workers by 2020.Bongawan assemblyman Datuk Karim Bujang was quoted as saying that Petronas has done much for the people and the state.
ReplyDeleteOn August 4 last year, Petronas’ general manager for Sabah and Labuan regional office Joseph Podtung said some of these projects had already started, while others were expected to commence soon.The projects included the RM3.8-billion Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT), the RM1.5-billion 300-megawatt (MW) gas-fired power plant in Kimanis, the RM4.6-billion mega fertiliser plan in Sipitang and a liquefied natural gas (LNG) re-gasification terminal in Lahad Datu to feed natural gas to the proposed new 300MW power plant in the area. The terminal and the power plant were expected to cost RM2.2 billion.
ReplyDeleteKarim said he supported the State Assembly Speaker’s decision to reject a motion at the State Legislative Assembly Sitting early last year by Luyang assemblywoman from Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) Melanie Chia requesting the Sabah government to review the agreement on the petroleum royalty from five per cent to 20 per cent.“I believe the benefit from the spin-offs of the projects is more than the royalty rate sought in the motion,” Karim said.
ReplyDeleteThe opposition in Sabah, however, called for a higher oil royalty, but hesitated to inform the people the true picture or the quantum of Petronas’ contributions to the state so far.In fact, up to August last year, Petronas had invested RM61 billion in the upstream and downstream activities of Sabah’s petroleum sector, contributing significantly to the state’s development.
ReplyDeleteLast year Petronas discovered oil offshore Sabah — initial estimates put the well’s reserves at 227 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe) and tests in three different reservoirs yielded a maximum output rate of 8,200 barrels per day (bpd).The Sabah Oil and Gas Contractors Association (SOGCA) said the state’s oil and gas industry had been energised by Petronas’ plans to develop RM45 billion worth of long-term key projects in Sabah.
ReplyDeleteAt the Sabah Oil and Gas Forum here on November 4, its president Datuk Iskandar Malik described these mega projects as ‘a windfall for the people of Malaysia, and Sabah in particular’.Federation of Sabah Manufacturers (FSM) president Datuk Wong Ken Thau said the oil and gas industry was poised to boost the manufacturing sector’s contribution to Sabah’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the next five years.
ReplyDeletePetronas was also reported to have prioritised locals in terms of business opportunities, especially with Petronas service stations.“All Petronas service stations in Sabah are 100 per cent owned by locals,” said former Petronas service station dealer Jahid Jahim.
ReplyDeleteJahid, who is now State Assistant Minister of Youth and Sports, said this showed Petronas’ seriousness to really help and nurture Sabahans to succeed in the petrol station business.Sabah, with its huge oil and gas reserves, has great potential to become a major economic force in the country, and many expect Petronas’ promising ‘Year of the Rabbit’ to continue to boom in 2012.