Dateline 2018-06-23, NST:
The court case between national oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and the Sarawak government, which could not proceed further on technical grounds, raises questions about oil and gas operations in the state beginning next month.
Yesterday, the Federal Court rejected Petronas’ application for stay order on Sarawak government’s upstream regulation in the state under the Oil Mining Ordinance 1958 (OMO) beginning July 1.
Petronas said in a statement that its application was declined based solely on technical grounds and it was ruled that the matter falls outside of the Federal Court’s jurisdiction.
“The Federal Court did not in any way determine or endorse the merits of the legal position taken by the Government of Sarawak to regulate upstream petroleum activity under its Oil Mining Ordinance 1958,” Petronas added.
As such,the national oil company intends to further pursue legal actions to seek clarity on its rights under the Petroleum Development Act 1974 (PDA 1974).
However, Sarawak is adamant to enforce its regulatory rights under the OMO. This would require Petronas to have the requisite licences or leases under the Ordinance by July 1, failing which the upstream activities carried out by Petronas would be illegal and appropriate action would be taken.
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Posted by Wata 
