Page 5 - AsianOil Week 44

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Sarawak to sue Petronas over unpaid tax bill
POLICY
THE Malaysian state of Sarawak is preparing to take national oil company (NOC) Petronas to court over an unpaid tax bill.
Sarawak’s Assistant Law, State-Federal Rela- tions and Project Monitoring Minister Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali told reporters on November 5 that the major had failed to respond to a notice of assessment issued in September seeking payment of a 5% petroleum product tax.
She said Petronas had asked for a grace period before Sarawak took legal action, as the company had to wait for the central government’s approval before paying the claim. With the company hav- ing failed to move the issue forward, she said: “We are very firm and will be taking action against Petronas as soon as possible.”
Aman Ghazali noted that payment had been due by the end of September, which meant that a penalty would also be imposed. She said her government was looking to take action “as soon as we possibly can or even before the end of this
month”.
“It goes without saying that the government
will vigorously pursue the matter and the rele- vant authorities have already [been] put in place for this purpose,” she said. “We will utilise all the legal avenues available so that all sums due from Petronas under the Sales Tax Ordinance are paid and we are ready.”
During Sarawak Chief Minister Abang Johari Openg’s delivery on November 4 of the state’s 2020 budget in the state assembly, he said: “Under the state Sales Tax Ordinance 1998, Pet- ronas is legally obligated to pay the state sales tax and its failure to do so would be tantamount to breach of the law.”
Sharifah added that the central government had also failed to respond to other concerns over the state’s rights. “We have not received any proposal for a meeting with [the central govern- ment] for further discussions. I’m not sure why and it’s frustrating for us,” she said.™
Thai power producers to develop Vietnamese LNG projects
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
THAI power producers B.Grimm Power and Gulf Energy Development have signed agree- ments with Vietnam to develop liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuelled power projects in the South- East Asian country.
Small-scale power producer B.Grimm agreed on November 2 to study and develop a 3,000- MW LNG-fired thermal power plant (TPP) with state-owned Petrovietnam Power, using an existing 1,500-MW TPP in Ca Mau Province as the project’s base.
“If the study finds that LNG is viable, this power plant will double power generation by another 1,500 MW in the second phase,” The Bangkok Post quoted B.Grimm president Preey- anart Soontornwata as saying. “The project will depend on the feasibility study, scheduled to be completed next May.”
Noting that several LNG suppliers had approached B.Grimm offering gas prices lower than PTT, Soontornwata added: “The LNG market has more potential in the future as new supply enters worldwide, so we are not worried about an interruption in supply.”
B.Grimm’s board of directors is scheduled to approve the deal in early 2020.
Thailand’s third-largest power utility Gulf Energy, meanwhile, signed an agreement with the Ninh Thuan Provincial People’s Committee
to develop a gas-fired TPP and LNG terminal in the province on November 2. The company said it would locate facilities in the province’s Ca Na subdistrict and Thuan Nam district.
Gulf Energy has previously proposed devel- oping a 6,000-MW TPP and 6mn tonne per year (tpy) LNG import terminal in Vietnam.
Gulf Energy’s executive director, Yupapin Wangviwat, said: “The Vietnam government issued a letter to support Gulf ’s investment there by jointly working with state agencies at provin- cial and national levels. Both parties agreed to extend their co-operation to exchange studies, expertise and know-how in gas-fired power plants, an LNG terminal and financing capacities for the development of the integrated LNG-to- power project.”
Thai power producers are looking for LNG opportunities in neighbouring countries owing to the slow pace of reform at home. Thai lawmakers have been talking about liber- alising the local LNG market, which is domi- nated by state-owned PTT, for years. However, Bangkok has only approved state-run Electric- ity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) to begin importing the fuel and, even then, has forced the utility to suspend its plans to sign a long-term supply deal with Malaysia’s state- owned Petronas.™
Week 45 06•November•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P5