MORE SHOCKING: In Sarawak, latest oil find quietly passed to CRONIES WITH NO EXPERTISE

Sarawak PKR Chairman Baru Bian has demanded transparency over the management of oil and gas deposits found in the State of Sarawak and pledged that under PR all profits would be placed in a transparent Trust Fund for the people of Sarawak to help develop the state.

Recent explorations have found on-shore oil and gas reserves potentially worth billions of ringgit and experts now expect that much more oil is likely to be found beneath the landmass of Sarawak.  As the law stands permits for the extraction of any on-shore resources are under the legal control of Sarawak.

So the State is fully entitled to demand the lion’s share of the royalty for onshore oil and gas, particularly as 95% of its off-shore oil has gone straight to PETRONAS for the past 3 decades.

Permits quietly issued

Baru Bian condemned the fact that so far permits have been quietly issued without any information being given about the terms or royalties, in one case to a joint-venture between Rimbunan Hijau’s RH Petrogas, and PETRONAS.  RH Petrogas snatched up 80% of the joint-venture with PETRONAS receiving the lesser 20% to exploit the onshore field SK 331 in Balingian recently.

Reuters reported on the 6^th of December, 2012, that “RH Petrogas Ltd announced that the Company has through its wholly-owned subsidiary, RHP (Mukah) Pte. Ltd., entered into a Petroleum Production Sharing Contract with Petroliam Nasional Berhad for Block SK 331 onshore Sarawak. PETRONAS is the national oil company of Malaysia and is vested with the entire ownership and control of the petroleum resources in the country. RH Petrogas Ltd will operate the Block with an 80% participating interest, with the remaining 20% owned by its partner Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd, the exploration and production subsidiary of PETRONAS. The Block is located onshore Sarawak and covers an area of approximately 11,600 square kilometres, which includes the area where the Bintulu LNG terminal is located.” (http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/RHPG.SI/key-developments)

“The issue then is this: Why was this concession not tendered out, and why has it been awarded to Rimbunan Hijau, a timber-based company that has zero technical expertise in oil and gas but which has long standing associations with the Chief Minister? Since RH Petrogas gets 80% while PETRONAS gets 20%, what then is left for Sarawak and her people?” asked Bian.

Again, concessions handed out to cronies with no expertise

Over the weekend it became clear that a second concession is being explored and developed once more by PETRONAS and the Japanese concern Nippon Oil at Block SK 333 onshore of Sarawak, via the Adong Kecil West 1 well, some 20km northeast of Miri city. PETRONAS, in a press statement, said the Adong Kecil well was drilled by JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration (Onshore Sarawak) Ltd, the operator for Block SK 333, together with its joint-venture partner Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd.

“It is absolutely scandalous that none of these matters have gone before the Dewan Undangan Negeri!” said Baru Bian.  He continued, “It is absolutely vital that these matters are handled transparently and the accounts are available for all to see.  This discovery of oil presents a huge and joyful new prospect and hope for the people of Sarawak, who have suffered so much and lost so many of their resources to outside interests over the past decades.

“The billions that could one day be raised from these deposits could pay for the schools, boarding hostels, hospitals, rural clinics, roads, clean piped water, electricity connection and infrastructure that is so desperately needed to improve lives in our rural areas.  We must make sure that past evils are not repeated and that the money is not diverted to outside projects or corrupt individuals.

“This is Sarawak’s fourth and final chance to use its resources the proper way.  Our timber was taken and our off-shore oil was taken and even our lands have been handed over for others to exploit for oil palm plantations. This time we must make sure that the money raised from the crude oil discovered recently goes to the people of this State.”

Last chance for S'wak to hold onto its wealth

Bian made his pledge that when Pakatan Rakyat wins the GE13 and captures Sarawak, he would work with Pakatan Rakyat coalition partners DAP and PAS in Sarawak to set up the People’s Trust Fund to make sure that all the profits from Sarawak’s onshore oil go to projects to benefit the public and would be managed transparently through a budget voted through the Dewan Undangan Negeri.

“Based on its past record it is simply not safe to entrust Sarawak’s new oil finds to BN and its placemen in Sarawak.” he said.

- Sarawak PKR