2 days ago
Former top state oil official disputes Masidi's claims on SMJ Energy's role
KOTA KINABALU: An ex-top Sabah oil and gas official has disputed claims by state Finance Minister Datuk Seri Masidi Manjun ( pic ) about the state's petroleum development timeline, calling them 'misleading' and lacking historical context.
Former Sabah Oil & Gas Development Corporation Sdn Bhd (SOGDC) chief executive officer Abdul Kadir Abdullah Damsal said it was inaccurate to suggest that Sabah's oil and gas industry only began to evolve with the establishment of SMJ Energy (SMJE) in 2021.
He highlighted that several government-linked companies (GLCs), including Sabah Energy Corporation (SEC), Sabah International Petroleum (SIP), Yayasan Sabah subsidiaries and SOGDC itself, were actively involved in the sector well before SMJE was formed.
Abdul Kadir, who is also a practising lawyer, credited past progress to the previous Barisan Nasional government, saying that PETRONAS launched the Sabah Integrated Oil and Gas Project (SIOGP) in 2014 during a time of political stability, with investments totalling nearly RM54bil.
'These projects laid the foundation for Sabah's current oil and gas infrastructure, creating thousands of jobs and supporting local engineering and service firms,' he said in a statement on Saturday (July 12).
He also mentioned the establishment of the Joint Working Committee between Sabah and PETRONAS, which he said led to more gas being allocated to the state and efforts to build local capacity, such as appointing a Sabahan as the chief executive officer of the PETRONAS' SAMUR plant.
'Contrary to recent claims, the industry was not dormant before SMJE. Sabahans have long played important roles in oil and gas operations, without needing to apply political pressure to so-called 'Sabahan entities' like SAMUR,' he added.
Abdul Kadir further questioned recent statements that Sabah-based oil and gas firms received RM2bil worth of PETRONAS contracts in 2024.
He said this figure could be misleading without a proper breakdown and called for clarity on how much was actually awarded to locally owned Sabah firms.
On SMJE's reported RM362mil profit in 2024, he claimed this was a group figure, and not solely due to SMJE's upstream involvement in Samarang.
Instead, he said much of the profit came from SIP's 10% equity in LNG Train 9 in Bintulu, a deal initiated under the Barisan administration and signed during Parti Warisan's time in power.
He also said that other state-owned companies such as Suria Capital, Sawit Kinabalu and Qhazanah Sabah have long operated as billion-ringgit asset-backed firms, and urged that SMJE's growth not be portrayed as a standalone success story.
Abdul Kadir also called on the state government to provide a more accurate narrative to the public.
'Sabahans deserve the truth, not exaggerated claims or selective retelling of the state's economic development,' he said.
