Published on: Friday, June 10, 2022
By: David Thien
SOGCE organiser Dolly Jimayol of Midas Event Management presenting a memento to Joachim
KOTA KINABALU: The success of the Sabah Maju Jaya (SMJ) development plan hinges substantively on the industrial growth of Sabah’s oil and gas (O & G) resources, which is vital to increase high-income employment opportunities and attract substantial investments to boost Sabah’s economic growth.
This was emphasised by Deputy Chief Minister cum Industrial Development Minister Datuk Dr Joachim Gunsalam, who officiated at the 9th Sabah Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition 2022 at the Sabah International Convention Centre, here, Thursday.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor, in his message, stressed that:
“The State Government, through its agencies and government-linked companies (GLCs) such as Sabah Oil and Gas Development Corporation, Sabah International Petroleum, Sabah Energy Corporation and SMJ Petroleum S/B, is pursuing greater value creation from the State’s O & G resources to realise economic aspiration.”
Joachim said the exhibition’s theme, “Stimulating Investment, Driving Industrialisation of Oil and Gas in Sabah”, is most appropriate, and in line with the SMJ which aspires to attract more investments, both foreign and domestic, in order to create more job opportunities.
He said the more than RM20 billion investment development at the Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial Park (Sogip) will create economic spill-overs which will not only boost the economy of the State and Sipitang but also greatly benefit the surrounding districts, particularly Beaufort, Tenom and Papar.
Exhibition Organising Chairman Dolly Jimayol said the O & G industry in Sabah still has great potential.
He said Petronas and the Sabah Oil and Gas Development Corporation (SOGDC) would be building Sabah’s RM8.8 billion Petronas LNG project in Sogip dubbed as ZLNG.
Azmir Zamri, Petronas’ head of upstream resource exploration for Malaysia Petroleum Management, in his keynote address, said: “ZLNG will expand the capacity for Sabah gas monetisation.”
There has been much development in the oil and gas sector over the past months, including the signing of the Commercial Collaboration Agreement (CCA) between the State Government and Petronas to increase revenue sharing for Sabah and to ensure greater participation of Sabah in the oil and gas sector.
The launch of the Sabah Gas Master Plan 2026-2040 will serve as a reference for both Sabah and Petronas to guide the way forward for the further development of natural gas in Sabah.