PARLIAMENT | A Sarawakian MP has questioned whether Petronas’ move to seek the Federal Court’s judgment on the legal position of its operations in East Malaysia received Putrajaya’s blessings.
Yusuf Abd Wahab (GPS-Tanjong Manis) lamented that Sarawakians perceived the national oil and gas firm’s legal action as a “challenge” to the validity of the joint declaration between Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Sarawak Premier Abang Johari Openg.
“Did Petronas’ action have the consent or approval of the federal government or of the prime minister?
“Is the joint declaration agreed to by the prime minister himself meaningless and not respected, to the extent that Petronas still feels the need to file a legal challenge in court?” Yusuf asked while debating the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He further asserted that if he were the prime minister, he would take “firm action” against Petronas for supposedly failing to respect and defying a decision he had made.
“Fortunately, Tanjong Manis is not the prime minister,” he quipped.
Conflict between PDA and DGO
On Jan 12, Petronas said in a statement that its application to the apex court seeks to determine its legal position to ensure the company continues to operate in full compliance with applicable laws and sound governance practices.
Overall, the application seeks the Federal Court’s determination on the conflict between the Petroleum Development Act 1974 (PDA) and the Distribution of Gas Ordinance 2016 (DGO).
Petronas also said its application was not intended to challenge Sarawak’s development aspirations or hinder the role of Petroliam Sarawak Bhd (Petros) as Sarawak’s sole gas aggregator in the state’s energy sector.
However, Petronas noted that despite a series of dialogues and negotiations with Petros since 2024, there were still differences that have led to uncertainty over the industry giant’s obligations in Sarawak.
The originating motion for the matter, which names the federal and Sarawak governments as respondents, was filed on Jan 10.
The legal move had earlier raised eyebrows as it came after Anwar and Abang Johari, in May last year, signed the joint declaration which recognised both the PDA as a federal legislation and the DGO as a state law enforced in Sarawak.
Stick to win-win situation
Yusuf opined that since commercial settlement negotiations are still ongoing, it would be “better, wiser, and more harmonious” for relations between the two territories if Petronas and Petros were to continue cooperating in a “win-win situation” in line with legal provisions.
He also addressed Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said’s recent statement that the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) does not contain any provision concerning the ownership or regulation of oil and gas resources.
Azalina said MA63 also does not assign the roles of petroleum entities like Petronas or Petros.
Commenting on the matter, Yusuf pointed out that under the Federal Constitution, land and natural resources are matters and powers of state authorities.
“Oil and gas do not exist in the abstract. They are located beneath the land; without land, whether onshore or seabed, there would be no gas and no oil.
“Land has never been the property of the federal government,” he insisted. - Mkini
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