Setting up Petros a good move — See

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See Chee How

KUCHING: The unprecedented step taken by the state administration to incorporate Petros, a Sarawak wholly-owned oil and gas company, as a vehicle to actively participate in the extraction and development of the state’s oil and gas is most welcomed by all Sarawakians, said Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How.

See, who is state PKR vice chairman, said Petros should be a sovereign wealth fund, which is a Sarawak-owned investment fund, answerable to the Sarawak Legislative Assembly to invest in, accumulate and manage the funds in the course of its exploration, management and development of all upstream and downstream petroleum-related projects in Sarawak.

“The Sarawak administration must first assert and assume control over the awarding of production sharing contracts (PSC) over those remaining blocks or fields of oil and gas potentials onshore and offshore within the territorial boundary of Sarawak.

“A sovereign wealth fund which is answerable to the Sarawak Legislative Assembly will ensure that the entity maintains its characteristic of maximising long-term return from the resource wealth for the future generations of Sarawak while establishing a strongly responsible and accountable institution that distinguishes and prevents it from being a state-owned fund which runs into problems like 1MDB,” See told a press conference here yesterday.

He pointed out that a strong sovereign wealth fund will also ensure that the state administration is able to be a strong partner to Petronas to jointly undertake all exploration and development of upstream and downstream petroleum-related projects in Sarawak and to put in place a succession plan which will brace and buttress Sarawak’s capacity to develop and manage its depletable petroleum resources independently.

With the incorporation of Petros, See said it is imperative that all individually or separately arranged collaboration, joint ventures and any form of undertakings for upstream and downstream petroleum development projects with Petronas must go through Petros.

“With Petros, it should give Sarawakian private and public corporations the edge in bargaining power, the financial backing and institutional support to maximise returns from all the petroleum resources related development projects in Sarawak, for all Sarawakians.

“The recent undertaking of a methanol and methanol derivatives project is a case in point.”

According to See, the said Petronas-related project in Sarawak involves Sarawakian privately owned company, public company and purportedly a trust-related company entering a memorandum of understanding for the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning of the proposed methanol plant with a consortium – China Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering Co Ltd (HQC) and Peninsular Malaysia-based MACfeam Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Pegasus Diversified Bhd.

“The eventual shareholdings of the various parties in the project have not been revealed, but any such arrangement will not be able to maximise returns for Sarawak, for a petroleum-related downstream development project in Sarawak.”

In view of this, See said Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg must ensure that all revenues and returns from the state’s investments in the exploration, management and development of all upstream and downstream petroleum-related projects in Sarawak are wealth for Sarawak, all Sarawakians and the future generations and that there should be no favouritism or preferential treatments for individuals and groups.

“The petroleum resources are depletable and we have already been deprived of the resource wealth for the past five decades. We must manage and develop whatever petroleum resources wealth zealously to ensure that the wealth generated from now on are not only beneficial to us but sustainable for future generations of Sarawakians.

“I am certainly hopeful that the Chief Minister and his administration will devise a comprehensive masterplan to safeguard our sovereign rights to the valuable resources and the best endeavours for the exploration, management and development of all upstream and downstream petroleum-related projects in Sarawak.”

The formation of Petros was announced by Abang Johari on Sunday night at an appreciation dinner organised by his office.

Yesterday, Abang Johari said for a start, the board of the newly formed Petros is made up of five Sarawakians who have retired from Petronas and Shell.

“We will work together to find the best person with experience to be appointed as the chief executive officer. The board will decide later,” he said after opening the International Conference on Language Studies at Riverside Majesltic Hotel here.

Most importantly, he pointed out, was forming and registering the company with the board first in order to look after Sarawak’s interest in the oil and gas sector.