Petroleum Development Act only vests right to mine in Petronas, not the land

Dato Sri JC Fong

By Lian Cheng

KUCHING, Nov 23: The Petroleum Development Act 1974 (PDA74) does not vest land ownership to National Petroleum Limited (PETRONAS) for the areas it operates or used to operate on.

Sarawak Legal Counsel Dato Sri JC Fong explained that PDA74 only grants PETRONAS the rights to explore, exploit, and own petroleum, without vesting the land itself in the company.

“PDA74 never vests the land in PETRONAS. The land in the continental shelf is defined as State land under the Sarawak Land Code,” Fong told DayakDaily.

In the event of oil and gas depletion, the obligation arises to return the land to Sarawak, providing an opportunity for the State to determine its future use.

“Then we can decide what to do with it. In this case, we want to develop the sites for carbon storage, by using the abandoned or depleted oil wells or oil fields,” said Fong.

Sarawak is actively exploring the potential development of its 1,665 used oil wells as a carbon storage center, an initiative aligning with the Sarawak’s commitment to a green economy.

Deputy Minister of Energy and Environmental Sustainability Datuk Dr Hazland Abang Hipni said these used oil wells have the capacity to store at least nine billion tonnes of carbon.

This figure surpasses the carbon storage capacity of Sarawak’s forests, estimated to be between 750,000 million and one billion tonnes.

He further explained that the mentioned capacity does not include the potential posed by coastal aquifer (permeable rock layer), which can also serve as a carbon storage medium.

This carbon storage initiative is expected to offset carbon emissions in the region, while simultaneously reduce a total of 600,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, apart from raking in additional income for Sarawak. — DayakDaily