KUCHING, July 24 — Sarawak expects to be paid royalty on the value of its oil extracted and not the profits from the sale of the resource, said Chief Minister Datuk Abang Johari Openg today.
He said the state rejected Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s proposal last week for the royalty to be calculated on the profits derived.
He claimed that Sarawak was entitled to define what constituted royalty as it owned the oil resources, likening this to patent licences for intellectual property.
“The same application is used on oil and gas resources found in our territory. We are the owner of these resources,” he told reporters after attending the 100th anniversary of Sarawak Lands and Survey Department here.
The CM said he did not seek clarification from Dr Mahathir as he noted that the prime minister already stated that he meant for royalty to be based on profits when replying to Kapit MP Datuk Alexander Nanta Linggi in Parliament last week.
The chief minister confirmed that he met with Terengganu Mentri Besar Dr Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar on the royalty proposal last week.
Abang Johari also said that the Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) officials met him after the Federal Court refused leave for the pursue its action against the state government over the ownership rights to oil and gas resources found in Sarawak’s territory.
“I cannot reveal what transpired at the meeting, but what we discussed is that there must be win-win situation for both sides.
“We are not that greedy to take all,” he said, adding that the state government respects Petronas for the development in the oil and gas industry in the country.
He said the state government will proceed with enforcing the recently amended Oil Mining Ordinance 1958 to regulate and license to oil and gas activity in the state, adding that it did not matter if Petronas agreed with the law or not.
The state government is giving Petronas and other oil companies operating in Sarawak’s territory until the end of next year to comply with OMO provisions.
