KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is expected to receive no less than RM5 billion if the 20 per cent oil and gas royalty to be given to the state government by federal is fully rolled out.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal said the estimate was based on the current payment as well as calculations done by Petronas for the five per cent existing royalty, which is estimated to amount to RM1.318 billion this year.
“However, this is just a rough calculation and based on whether the current method of royalty payment is followed,” he said answering a question from Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam (PBS-Kundasang).
Joachim had asked about the financial increase expected from royalty hike.
Shafie who is also state Finance Minister. said based on Petronas’ feedback, the cash payment from oil and gas revenue in future depended on various variables, including the projected rate of oil and gas.
“Other factors are development plans for oil and gas including in deep sea, as well as the global raw oil market prices,” he said.
Answering a supplementary question from Joachim, Shafie said Sabah only received between RM60 million and RM70 million a year annually in 1970s from the five per cent royalty from the federal government.
The highest royalty paid was RM1.1 billion last year, with the projected RM1.3 billion this year based on current oil prices.
He said the state government would present an enactment relating to natural resources as basic legislation to strengthen their 20 per cent royalty claim, as was being done in Sarawak.