Petronas won’t go bust if Sabah takes up shares: Shafie

KOTA KINABALU – If Sabah are to get shares from Petronas, the national oil firm will not run into financial complications, said former chief minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

He added that the idea is to raise Sabah’s annual oil royalties from 5% to 20%. 

“I had proposed to (former prime minister) Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad that instead of giving the state around RM7 to RM10 billion for the 20% royalty, replace it with shares for the national oil company,” he said in his Sabah budget debate here today. 

Shafie was responding to a question from Datuk Rubin Balang (independent-Kemabong) that Petronas would go bust if Sabah acquired shares from the oil company. 

Shafie had earlier said that it was under his administration that Sabah would be able to collect sales tax on petroleum products and denied that he feared Dr Mahathir during talks on oil and gas when Pakatan Harapan held federal power.

Shafie, who is Warisan president, reiterated that he preferred a diplomatic approach, unlike the Sarawak government which decided to take Petronas to court. 

He added that under the Warisan-led administration, Sabah would have received a similar deal like Sarawak if not for the “Sheraton Move” in February, resulting in the collapse of the Pakatan Harapan federal government. 

The Sarawak government on December 7 signed a commercial agreement with Petronas after the two parties decided to settle matters out of court. 

Sarawak had sued Petronas for the company’s refusal to pay state sales tax on petroleum goods. 

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Md Noor said current Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin would arrange a similar meeting between the Sabah government and Petronas. 

Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee (appointed assemblyman) questioned Shafie if Sabah would risk losses if the state acquired shares from Petronas, similar to FGV Holdings Bhd.

To this, Sarifuddin Hata (Merotai-Warisan) said Yong has got the matter all wrong, saying that Shafie referred to joint-ownership shares, not stocks. 

Meanwhile, Sariffuddin said the previous Warisan-led government was able to settle a RM1 billion loan to the federal government after it set up a sinking fund with the Sabah Development Bank.

The loan, he added, was left behind by the previous Barisan Nasional government. 

He said as a result of Shafie’s financial prudence, Sabah finances had been rated stable by the auditor-general for 2019. – The Vibes, December 21, 2020