DAP Sabah wants Petronas accounts

One issue was the validity of the oil agreements given legal opinion that the Petroleum Development Act 1974 was unconstitutional.

KOTA KINABALU: DAP Sabah wants the accounts of Petronas to be made public, in the interest of transparency, so that stakeholders will be kept in the know on the true situation of the national oil corporation.

“Before Petronas claims that increasing the oil royalty from 5 per cent to 20 per cent was excessive, it should disclose its accounts to all oil producing states,” said DAP Sabah Secretary Edwin Bosi. “”What we need is transparency on the issue.”

He alleged that Sabahans were being kept in the dark while the national oil corporation was reaping lucrative profits at their expense.

DAP Sabah deputy chairman Stephen Wong echoed the Kepayan state assemblyman’s remarks on the issue and pointed out that the oil and gas resources in Sabah belonged to the people.

“Petronas should find a solution to return justice to the oil producing states and not look for excuses to avoid them getting their rightful entitlement,” said Wong.

Both DAP leaders were commenting Petronas officials saying in Kota Kinabalu on Wednesday that increasing cash payments – often called oil royalty – for Sabah and other oil states will have an adverse effect on the national oil and gas industry and possibly render it no longer viable.

They said that excuses by Petronas will remain unacceptable as long as it keeps the accounts secret, not disclosing them even to Parliament.

Wong, resuming the debate, said that he had information that Petronas as a Fortune 500 company will earn US$ 100 billion this year alone. He noted that Petronas had acknowledged that 53 of its 333 oil platforms were in Sabah.

“The wealth and fortune made by Sabah are partly from Sabah,” said Wong. “As owners, Sabah should get more out of its oil resources so that we can among others develop our infrastructure which is lagging far behind others.”

Petroleum Development Act 1974 unconstitutional after emergency laws repealed

He demanded that Petronas return the oil fields to Sabah, which legitimately owns them, if the 20 per cent was excessive and a burden.

He called on Sarawak to stand firm with Sabah so that both states can speak with one voice on the issue of justice for their people.

One issue that needed to be settled, according to DAP Sabah, was the validity of the oil agreements signed with Sabah and Sarawak given legal opinion that the Petroleum Development Act 1974, under which the agreements were made, was unconstitutional and had long operated under emergency laws which have since been repealed.