Sarawak’s demand for oil control pressures Petronas to mull legal action, says report

September 8, 2024

Sarawak’s demand for oil control pressures Petronas to mull legal action, says report

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s national oil company Petronas is contemplating legal action to “defend its monopoly” over the country’s natural resources, according to a report.

According to the CNA news portal, this move by Petronas is in response to Sarawak’s strong push for increased control over the trading and extraction of gas and other oil-related products within the state.

The news agency quoted government officials close to the matter as saying that Petronas is mulling filing an injunction in the coming days to head off any confrontation between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s administration and the Sarawak government.

The report also quoted lawyers as saying that unless the state government decides to resume negotiations with the national oil corporation over the control of natural resources, the dispute could escalate into a full-blown court battle.

It added that Sarawak has given Petronas an ultimatum to finalise an agreement by Oct 1, granting the state full rights over the supervision of oil and gas trading extracted from the state.

DISYORKAN UNTUK ANDA :

1Bestarinet – Tambah kecilakaan kepada Muhyiddin

“No middle ground has been reached (between Petronas and Sarawak) and the option at this point is to turn to the courts,” said a senior government official privy to talks on the matter between Petronas, Anwar and his economic advisory committee.

The official was quoted as saying that Anwar had asked for Sarawak’s demands to be managed at the corporate level with Petronas without Putrajaya’s involvement.

The report also quoted Petronas’s president and group CEO Tengku Muhammad Taufik as saying that liquefied natural gas buyers and upstream players have raised concerns over the security of fuel supply in light of the proposal by Petroliam Sarawak (Petros) to take over as the sole gas aggregator for the state.

“We have seen ourselves become one of the primary partners of countries like Japan and South Korea.

“They want assurances that supply, if developed through an integrated model, will be able to be supplied reliably, cost competitively, (which is) now more important than ever,” he said.