KUCHING, Nov 17 — National oil corporation Petronas must obtain the necessary licenses or leases from the Sarawak government to operate within its territory, Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg said today.

"The power of the state to issue mining leases remains in the State List of the Federal Constitution. We must exert our mining rights,” he said in his winding speech at the state legislative assembly.

The chief minister, however, did not state when Petronas must apply for the licences or leases.

He said even though the Petroleum Development Act 1974 has vested the rights to exploration and export of petroleum to Petronas by the federal government, it does not mean that the oil corporation has the right to simply enter into Sarawak’s territory, be it land or sea.

"In exerting the mining rights of Sarawak in our own sovereign territory, we are not saying that we are not friendly to the petroleum business in Sarawak.

"We have no intention of disrupting the normal business of the petroleum industry in Sarawak when we exert our mining rights under the Federal Constitution,” Abang Johari said.

He said the state’s rights over its offshore resources were taken away by Acts of Parliament and not by the Sarawak state legislative assembly.

He said the Continental Shelf Act 1966 vested the rights with respect to the exploration of the continental shelf and the exploration of its natural resources in the federation and be exercisable only by the federal government.

The chief minister said the Territorial Sea Act 2012, limiting Sarawak’s territorial sea limits to three nautical miles, was purportedly enacted, among others, to comply with the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea, in which Malaysia is a signatory.

He said under this convention, the territorial seas of the nation states are limited to 12 nautical miles.

"However, by unilaterally reducing the territorial sea of Sarawak to three nautical miles, the territorial sea of Sarawak is reduced by nine nautical miles, affecting the rights of the state to the natural resources within the territorial seas.”

In a reminder, he said the rights of Sarawak are enshrined in the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 (MA63) which is an international treaty that has not been amended by all the signatory parties as peers — Malaya, the United Kingdom, Sarawak, Sabah and Singapore.

Singapore was expelled from the Malaysian federation in 1965.

"We in Sarawak continue to exert our rights under MA63 because if we don’t look after ourselves, nobody else will. Sarawakians have been too trusting,” Abang Johari said, adding that Sarawakians are even more vigilant, because many of "our native sons and daughters are now highly educated, can read and write, and are aware of what is going on.”

"We do not want wool to be pulled over our eyes. We can see clearly now. We will do due diligence in all our agreements,” he said, adding that the state wants to safeguard its economic interests for the present and future generations of Sarawakians.

"It is about reclaiming what God has given us for our fair share of the earth,” he said.