KOTA BHARU, Aug 12 — The Kelantan government intends to strengthen its involvement in the petroleum and gas industry to ensure that the benefits of natural resources can be enjoyed by the people, besides contributing to the state’s sustainable economic development.

Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar, Datuk Dr Mohamed Fadzli Hassan said the effort must take into account existing legislation including the Petroleum Development Act 1974 as well as Kelantan’s constitutional position which is different from Sarawak, which has certain rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63).

“In line with the state government’s wishes, the Kelantan Menteri Besar Corporation has established Kelantan Ventures Sdn Bhd (KVSB) as a special purpose company to explore opportunities for participation in the petroleum and gas industry in a more structured and strategic manner.

“Through KVSB, Kelantan is building capacity, exploring investment opportunities and establishing collaborations with reputable companies in the industry value chain,” he said.

He said this when answering a question from Mohamad Nasriff Daud @ Daud Yatimee (PAS-Pengkalan Pasir) regarding the state government’s intention to establish a petroleum and gas corporation at the State Legislative Assembly sitting at Kota Darulnaim Complex here today.

Explaining further, Mohamed Fadzli said the participation would focus on the development of the petroleum and gas value chain including supply bases, logistics and support services for the upstream and downstream sectors, in addition to exploring opportunities in the energy sector.

He said the approach was in line with the development of the Northern Offshore Oil & Gas Corridor which includes the Tok Bali Supply Base (TBSB), Tok Bali Industrial Park (TBIP) as well as integration with the East Coast Rail Link Project logistics network in the future.

“The state government will continue to strengthen institutional capacity and examine appropriate participation models based on existing legal space to ensure that Kelantan’s involvement in the petroleum and gas industry can be strengthened in a phased and responsible manner.

“This step is also to ensure that the returns from the participation can be channeled to the state and subsequently enjoyed by all the people,” he said. — Bernama