ONE thing that seems clear and common to Sabah and Sarawak in recent years is the aspiration of both states to gain greater autonomy.
It is an aspiration duly recognised by the federal government, which has set up the mechanism at federal level to discuss and agree on the details for a devolution of greater authority to both state governments.
To emphasise how seriously Putrajaya takes this matter, no less than the prime minister himself is chairing the main forum on this.
Indeed, there has been much progress in this regard and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof has been quoted as saying that the current federal administration has already gone the furthest in acceding to the points raised for discussion.
Of perhaps the greatest significance — and in this, Malaysia is perhaps no different from any other federation — is the question over the division of revenues derived from resources.
Land-based resources are clearly already within the absolute purview of the states.
The bone of contention today revolves around offshore resources, particularly oil and gas.
Here again, there has already been a major consensus reached: Petronas, the national oil corporation, has agreed to Sabah and Sarawak imposing state taxes over oil and gas derived offshore the Borneo states.
This is quite a concession on Petronas's part, given that it seemingly runs counter to the Petroleum Development Act 1974 which accepts Petronas as the sole custodian of the country's hydrocarbon resources.
The wrinkle here is that Sabah and Sarawak want a bit more than what either state now collects in state taxes and the five per cent royalty from Petronas.
Sarawak, in particular, seems to want more than just a bigger piece of the oil and gas revenue pie. It also wants more meaningful participation by state-owned Petros in the state's oil and gas industry.
How to square this seeming circle between either state and Putrajaya (represented by Petronas) is what belabours the devolution discussion at this juncture.
What appears highly pertinent at this stage is the question of whether Petros has what it takes to become the nation's second Petronas.
Petronas's achievements today generate an understandable, if usually mistaken, belief that success is always easy. Its early history shows that success was never assured.
The risks involved had been commensurate with the huge sums offshore exploration entailed.
Those risks may only grow as more marginal fields may be what is now left.
Therefore, the question may now arise whether a safer bet for Sarawak is still Petronas rather than attempting to build up a new kid on the block.
It is also interesting to note the divergence between Sabah's and Sarawak's future aspirations.
A news report this week highlighted that Sabah's oil and gas aspirations are "quietly brewing".
What strikes me is how Sabah seems to succeed in having it both ways.
The report explained how SMJ Energy Sdn Bhd (SMJE) — Petros's Sabah counterpart — "may exercise free carry or back-in rights".
In a nutshell, free carry means SMJE, on behalf of the Sabah government, may opt to participate in a new production-sharing contract with pre-agreed-upon negotiated equity interest after exploration success without paying for the exploration cost.
This is predicated on Sabah's commercial collaboration agreement secured with Petronas in 2021.
Thus, there already exists a template which lets Sabah into an almost risk-free equity participation after exploration works show promise.
This surely is a win-win between Sabah and Petronas.
*The writer views developments in the nation, region and the wider world from his vantage point in Kuching
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times