Petros is nothing like scandalplagued 1MDB, says Abang Jo

KUCHING: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg has refuted allegations by a website that the state-owned Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros) is like the scandal-plagued 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB).

“There’s been a malicious article written on Petros. We have a transparent organisation.

“No such thing of it being like 1MDB. That website is malicious and has malicious intention,” he said when opening Brooke Dockyard and Engineering Works Corporation’s new Demak Yard here yesterday.

The Asean Oil and Gas Monitor, which bills itself as a news portal covering governance, sustainability and community issues in the oil and gas industry, published a two-parter last month headlined “The Sarawak oil grab – is Petros the 1MDB of Sarawak?”.

The write-up alleged that Petros was set up to siphon money from Sarawak’s oil and gas sector to benefit the then-ruling Barisan Nasional elite at the state and federal levels, in return for at least 25 parliamentary seats from Sarawak to Barisan Nasional in GE14.

However, Abang Johari said Petros was a regulatory body set up by the state government to ensure Sarawakians could participate in the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry.

“Petros can work with Petronas and other organisations where there are mutual benefits,” he said.

Adding that the state government was an accountable and responsible government, he said: “We are transparent. At the end of the day, we want to deliver benefits to Sarawakians.

“We don’t want to just look on while others take our oil and gas. We can work together with industry players and share the wealth.”