CM: Petros board members to be announced next week

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Abang Johari moves to press a button to officiate at the event. He is flanked by Abang Karim (right) and Dr Jerip, while Wan Zulkiflee is at second left. — Photo by Chimon Upon

KUCHING: The board members of Sarawak’s wholly-owned oil and gas (O&G) company Petros will be announced next week.

Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg said the company is in the midst of forming its board of directors.

“There will be five people in the board. I will give you a full list of board members within a week. Just like I have promised you, I will name the CEO of the Development Bank of Sarawak (DBOS), so I will give you the list of Petros board members,” he told a press conference after witnessing a contract signing between Brooke Dockyard and Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd for the Anjung Facilities and Bokor Phase 3 Re-development Wellhead Platform projects here yesterday.

“I will give bit by bit because there are a lot of things to be considered. It’s still premature for me to disclose anything at the moment. Like I have said, we are still forming our board, and after that we leave it to the board members on how to run Petros.”

Abang Johari said Petros would enable Sarawakians to participate more in both upstream and downstream O&G. He said Petros is looking into both water and land exploration, and would work closely with Petronas in both areas.

“Based on our studies with Petronas, apparently a lot of concessions have been given to our partner, Petronas, in the areas they explore including onshore,” he said.

For onshore exploration, he said the state is still exploring whether there are oil reserves or not, the volume and feasibility, mostly in the northern region such as in Baram and Limbang.

“However, we do not know the volume of the oil reserve there,” he said.

In his speech, Abang Johari said Sarawak celebrates its 107th year of participation in O&G this year. He said he would work with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Petronas to get the maximum benefit from the state’s oil resources.

“Of course, we will try to get what is rightfully ours. And I will explore other ways for us to get maximum benefits from our oil and gas. In three to five years, there will be a lot of activities in oil and gas. This I can tell you but it’s still premature for me to reveal to you now,” he said.

Among those present were Assistant Minister of Transportation Datuk Dr Jerip Susil, Petronas president and group chief executive officer Datuk Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, and Brooke Dockyard chairman Datuk Abang Abdul Karim Tun Openg.