Christopher Mandut, acting head of PBS Youth, told FMT that the payment might not amount to as much as everyone believed, compared to the 5% cash payment already being made.
Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said that the oil states would be paid 20% of profits derived from petroleum extraction.
“Everybody seems to forget that the 5% payment to Sabah, as agreed in the Petroleum Development Act 1976, was not based on profit but on gross sales, which are a lot bigger than net profit.
“In 2017, Sabah received RM1.246 billion from this 5% payment, in a year when Petronas managed to make only RM23.8 billion net profit,” he said. The state budget for this year estimates oil payment of RM1.318 billion.
Mandut said net profit “could be more than the 5% cash payment, but not three times of what we are already receiving. Maybe just slightly more”.
He also pointed out that Sabah and Sarawak were only entitled to collect a maximum 10% royalty on export duties imposed on petroleum and gas. “To say that we are now given a 20% royalty would be unconstitutional,” he said.
He said the state government should revoke the lopsided Petroleum Development Act 1976 and consider it and the Territorial Seas Act as unconstitutional.
“Ownership of the continental shelf should belong to Sabah and this was affirmed by former chief minister Musa Aman in 2014,” he said.
Oil-producing states such as Sabah and Sarawak should insist on their ownership of the oil and gas resources and make their own decision on how to manage them, he said.