30 pct Petronas stake shifts focus from sovereignty to dividends, SUPP tells DAP S’wak

MIRI (Feb 10): Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) has criticised DAP Sarawak’s repeated proposal for the state to accept a 30 per cent equity stake in Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas), describing the idea as misleading and potentially harmful to its long-term interests.

In a statement, SUPP Central Publicity Secretary and Pujut assemblyman Adam Yii stressed that the state has never been fighting for dividends or shareholding, but for sovereignty and decision-making authority over its oil and gas resources.

“What Sarawak has been fighting for has never been a 30 per cent corporate shareholding, but the authority to manage and decide on oil and gas resources within its territory,” he said.

Yii said that while the proposal may sound attractive on the surface, it is directionally flawed and risks preserving a federal-centric structure that continues to place control in the hands of Peninsular Malaysia, rather than genuinely safeguarding the state’s rights.

He explained that a 30 per cent equity stake does not give the state control over how oil and gas are extracted, does not guarantee priority supply for local development, does not determine industrial policy, and does not allow Sarawak to influence key operational or resource allocation decisions.

He warned that framing the state’s oil and gas rights as a commercial transaction rather than a constitutional matter is dangerous, as it implicitly concedes that the state is not the rightful owner of its resources, but merely a party to be compensated.

“Once Sarawak accepts the 30 per cent equity narrative, the debate shifts away from authority and sovereignty to dividends and share allocation.

“This gradually weakens Sarawak’s legitimate position on resource ownership,” he said, adding that those pushing the proposal either lack a basic understanding of how the industry operates or are deliberately oversimplifying the issue.

He also cautioned that equity ownership would expose the state to commercial risks arising from Petronas’ non-Sarawak and overseas ventures, without granting the state real authority over its own resources.

On the state government’s current approach, Yii said Sarawak has adopted a pragmatic and deliverable strategy to strengthen real authority in the oil and gas sector, with achievements such as Petroleum Sarawak Bhd (Petros) becoming the sole gas aggregator in the state and Petronas’ commitment to supply up to 1.2 billion standard cubic feet of natural gas per day for the state’s priority use.

Yii emphasised that these are real outcomes already being implemented, not slogans for political gain.

He agreed that Sarawak should continue consolidating its constitutional rights under the Malaysia Agreement 1963 (MA63) and the Federal Constitution through sovereignty-based negotiations, rather than retreating into bargaining over corporate shareholdings.

“If something rightfully belongs to Sarawak, it should not be exchanged for shares. What Sarawak needs is sovereignty-based management authority, not a 30 per cent corporate stake,” he said.