Definitive action taken by the Sabah Barisan Nasional government have allowed the State to become a focal point for major oil and gas industry players to invest and help see major developments pull through.
The supporting infrastructure has allowed local players to build their capacity to undertake major projects offered by national oil and gas company Petronas or that of other multi-national companies.
Key developments up and running now include the Sabah Oil and Gas Industrial Park (SOGIP) in Sipitang, Sabah Oil and Gas Terminal (SOGT) in Kimanis as well as the Sabah, Sarawak Gas Pipeline (SSGP) that runs 500km from the terminal up to Bintulu, Sarawak.
Off-shore, the oil and gas fields are actively running. There is the Kimanis Petroleum Training Centre to prepare skilled human resources to support the industry, Kimanis Power Plant (KPP) and also a move to acquire a 10 per cent stake at the Liquefied Natural Gas Sdn Bhd 9 in Bintulu under Petronas.
All these developments in the west coast of Sabah will see the SOGT having a capacity to handle 260,000 barrels of oil and 1,250 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day. All these are supplied from the Kinabalu Non-Associated Gas field, southwest of the state, via a 120km underwater pipeline.
The KPP has a capacity to produce 300 megawatts and this has been used to meet the growing demand for electricity across the state.
There is also the Sabah Ammonia and Urea Complex (Samur), the third fertiliser plant operated by Petronas in the country, with a capacity of producing 2,100 tonnes of fertiliser per day, or up to 1.2 million tonnes annually.
SOGIP has also attracted at least RM33 billion worth of investments.
With Sabah now prospecting in the industry through Sabah International Petroleum Sdn Bhd, an investment arm under Sabah Development Bank, better days can be expected in the sector.
With the increase in prices and production of crude oil and natural gas, the state government had also received RM1.246 billion of petroleum royalty last year.
The amount exceeded the original statement of RM985 million, the highest petroleum royalty ever received in state history. This year, petroleum royalty is expected to increase to RM1.318 billion, which is 31.6 per cent of the state’s revenue.