Negotiation with Petronas on-going, says Abang Johari
KUCHING: Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg assures that he will try to get as much as possible from oil and gas for Sarawak.
He believed Sarawak could get more from oil and gas if there is continued negotiation and collaboration with Petronas.
“Trust me and believe in me. I will find a way to get as much as possible from oil and gas for Sarawak.
“But we have to work closely with Petronas, which has the expertise,” he said at the signing of agreement and memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Petronas and Yayasan Hartanah Bumiputera Sarawak (YHBS) here yesterday.
At the press conference later, the chief minister said the state government and Petronas actually had a common objective as a result of negotiation that was initiated by the late chief minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Adenan Satem.
He said both parties had indeed established a collaboration of sorts very significant to both parties.
“There have been continued negotiations between Petronas and the state government, but some of them we cannot tell the press and some we can tell.
“Because of that, many people are unaware and don’t really know the importance of this collaboration so much so that they accused Petronas of not looking at the state’s interest.
“If there is no collaboration it is difficult for us to get the gas from them because we need the feedstock to produce methanol,” he said.
Abang Johari said the signing of MoU was a very important day for both Petronas and Sarawak, adding that this made Sarawak the first state in Malaysia to have its very own methanol plant.
He said the construction of the infrastructure at Tanjung Kidurong would begin by end of this year and scheduled for completion in 2121.
He believed the plant would have great impact on Sarawak’s economy, creating business and job opportunities for local vendors and professionals. He said when fully operational, the plant would create 200 jobs for professionals and over 2,000 jobs for downstream vendors and maintenance.
“Hopefully, the price of methanol will go up by then (when fully operational). Now the price is US$300 per tonne. The plant can produce 5,000 metric tonnes per day and if the price goes up by then, it will be a bonus for us,” he said.
Abang Johari said Petronas was supplying the gas and buying the methanol because they have the marketing arm. He also assured Sarawakians not to worry about the financing as he would not touch the state’s coffer.
“I have secured some US$850 million from somewhere to build this project. In fact, the total investment for this project in the next five years will be more than US$2 billion. When fully operational, Tanjung Kidurong will become a petrochemical hub in Malaysia.”