The Sarawak Legislative Assembly updates several provisions in the Oil Mining Ordinance (OMO) 1958 by passing the Oil Mining (Amendment) Bill 2018
Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan
KUCHING: The Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) yesterday passed the Oil Mining (Amendment) Bill 2018, to update several provisions in the Oil Mining Ordinance (OMO) 1958, and to bring the Ordinance in line with the current practices and operations in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said, with the amendments, Sarawak would be able to strengthen its regulatory control over exploration and prospecting for petroleum, which by definition includes natural gas.
“With the strengthening of our regulatory control framework, Sarawak would be in a far better position to ensure greater participation in the oil and gas industry,” Awang Tengah, who is also the Minister of Industrial and Entrepreneur Development told the august House in his winding up speech before the Bill was passed.
He added that it would also facilitate a higher return of investment and ownership of equity in the industry.
The Bill was debated by 13 assemblymen from both sides of the political divide.
Awang Tengah hoped that the consensus among the elected representatives on the passing of Bill will help
Sarawak in regulating the oil and gas industry in Sarawak successfully.
On the inadequacy of penalties provided in the Amendment Bill as raised by several assemblymen, Awang Tengah said Sarawak does not anticipate a lot of non-compliance to provisions in OMO 1958.
“However, we can assure this august House that if a real need were to arise, the necessary amendments would be made to increase penalties,” he said.
Awang Tengah, who is also Second Minister of Urban Development and Natural Resources also told the House that Sarawak holds 25 per cent equity in the MNLG3, and hoped that the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government would honour their election manifesto of granting at least 20 per cent oil royalty to Sarawak.
He also anticipated that Sarawak MPs from PH being in the federal government would
take the necessary action to have the Petroleum Development Act (PDA) 1974 be amended or repealed in the coming Parliamentary sitting.
“Be rest assured that any such initiative would receive the full backing of Sarawak government..we as true Sarawakians should work together to achieve this objective and aspiration of the people of Sarawak,” he said.