Petronas only generates a gross margin of 10% from production, says finance minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan in rejecting claims that the national oil and gas firm is hoarding revenue from Sabah and Sarawak.
He explained that the petroleum industry, including in East Malaysia, operated under production-sharing contracts with about 80% of petroleum revenue used to cover exploration, production and operational costs.
Petronas also pays 5% to the respective state governments based on gross production, and another 5% to the federal government.
“This means only about 10% of gross profit remains to be shared between Petronas and investors after taxes,” The Edge reported him as telling a special chamber session in the Dewan Rakyat.
Amir was responding to a question from Chiew Choon Man (PH-Miri) about claims that Petronas kept 95% of the Borneo states’ oil and gas revenue.
He said payments to date this year amounted to RM2.233 billion to Sarawak and RM1.226 billion to Sabah.
Sarawak received RM2.862 billion in 2023 and RM2.544 billion in 2024, while Sabah received RM1.742 billion in 2023 and RM1.669 billion in 2024.
