Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg said the new formula had been submitted to the federal government.

He said he was aware that government-owned Petronas is also an international company but that did not mean that the company could deprive the state of its revenue.

“While maintaining Petronas as an international company, there is a formula through which Sarawak can take part, too. I have submitted our own own formula; it is an entirely new module which I believe would not jeopardise Petronas as an international company.

“We are the one producing the raw material for Petronas in terms of gas as well as crude oil, particularly gas; so I have my formula which is commercial in nature,” he told reporters after delivering his speech at the Sarawak Women’s Day 2019 here today.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that Petronas would no longer become the international oil company that it was if a 20% oil royalty was paid to Sarawak and Sabah, as the two states have demanded. He said the federal government was trying to work out how it could give both states more money without undermining Petronas’s own strengths.

Abang Johari said he could not disclose the details of the formula as it was still under negotiation with the federal government.

“But I am firm on the formula because it would not jeopardise Petronas. Perhaps the federal government may lose some revenue but, of course, Sarawak also wants to earn revenue. It must be a fair formula,” he said.