See Chee How
KUCHING (Dec 11): Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How has reminded Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg that Sarawak has no time to waste in claiming back the state’s constitutional and legal ownership and autonomy of the state’s territory and natural resources.
“Time is not on our side,” See said in response to Abang Johari’s statement that only time would tell whether Sarawak had been shortchanged in the commercial settlement agreement between the state government and Petronas.
See, who is also Parti Sarawak Bersatu (PSB) presidential council member, pointed out that there were two pertinent matters that the state government needed to take into consideration, namely that oil and gas were depleting resources as well as the global trend and pressure to replace the use of fossil fuels.
He explained that firstly, due to the unrestrained exploitation of Sarawak’s oil and gas resources over the last 40 years, the state’s reserves were depleting fast.
To illustrate his point, See prepared two tables with statistics to show the reserves and production of crude oil and natural gas, separately from the three regions of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak, according to the Energy Commission of Malaysia:-
Table 1: Reserves and Production of Crude Oil and Condensates as of January 2017
Table 2: Reserves and Production of Natural Gas as of January 2017.
At the same level of production, See explained that Sarawak’s reserves of crude oil and condensates would be exhausted by 2036 while for Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia, their reserves of crude oil and condensates would be exhausted by 2034 and 2038 respectively.
“Whereas for natural gas, Sarawak’s reserves would be exhausted by 2046 while for Sabah and West Malaysia, their reserves of natural gas would be exhausted by 2055 and 2056 respectively,” See said.
See said it was observed that while Sabah had the highest oil reserves remaining (37.38 per cent) amongst the three regions, its annual production was the highest and it would have mined and exhausted all of its oil reserves in 14 years.
“On the other hand, Sarawak has the highest natural gas reserves remaining (53.91 per cent) amongst the three regions but its annual production is the highest and it will have mined and exhausted all of its oil reserves in 26 years,” he added.
In view of this, See said it was clear that Sarawak and Sabah would exhaust all their reserves of oil and gas before Peninsular Malaysia.
Meanwhile, he highlighted that it was a global concern that the persisting exploitation and use of fossil fuels including oil, gas and coal, were amongst the main causes of adverse effects of climate change and that global strategies and plans were being formulated to keep the world’s remaining fossil fuels in the ground and to develop renewable energy sources to ensure a sustainable future for humankind, wildlife, and the climate.
“It will be a matter of decades when fossil fuels will be phased out, but before we run out of oil and gas, we must ensure that there will be our rightful and equitable returns in the mining and exploitation of our oil and gas reserves.
“Time is on the side of Petronas, not ours. The commercial development does not have a timeline to return the legal ownership of oil and gas to Sarawak, as we are continue to be bound by the Petroleum Development Act 1974.
“It is with our rightful and equitable returns that will enable us to save and invest the just returns into our Sarawak Wealth Funds, to take care of the needs and interests of Sarawak and all Sarawakians, including the future generations,” See concluded.
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