If Finance Minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan is correct, then Petronas may not be as wealthy as many Malaysians have long assumed.
We tend to think of Petronas as an immensely rich national oil and gas firm—so rich, in fact, that its revenue has funded projects like the Petronas Twin Towers and Putrajaya, while also contributing up to a quarter of the nation’s budget. But if the second finance minister is right, all of that perceived wealth may be a misconception.
For context, In 2025, petroleum-related revenue is projected to deliver RM62 billion to Putrajaya’s coffers, accounting for a substantial 18% of total federal revenue.
according to former Finance Minister , Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah , Petronas has also been compelled to bail out several struggling entities over the years. In 1985, the state-owned oil company rescued Bank Bumiputera with an RM2.5 billion injection, and in 1991, it stepped in again with another RM1 billion.
Razaleigh also claimed that in 1997, Petronas had to rescue Konsortium Perkapalan Berhad, a financially troubled company owned by then-Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s son, with RM2 billion. Beyond these bailouts, Petronas was reportedly forced to underwrite the construction of the iconic Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur for RM6 billion, as well as the development of the lavish administrative capital, Putrajaya, for RM22 billion.
He remarked: “This amount could have been used more productively to fund a national pension programme for Malaysians, as has been done by a certain Scandinavian country.”
Razaleigh warned that the enormous expenditures on bailouts and government projects had deprived Petronas of funds crucial for reinvestment, undermining its long-term business sustainability.
He further noted that since 1997, subsidies extended to the national power supplier, independent power producers, and other non-power entities had reached RM136.5 billion. While these power producers continued to benefit from subsidised fuel prices, consumer petroleum subsidies—which cost the government RM14 billion in 2011—were partly discontinued.
Our current second finance minister, Amir Hamzah however, seems to have a completely different take on Petronas's imporantance to the country.
According to Amir Hamzah, Petronas only generates a 10% gross margin from production. Of this, 5% goes to the respective state governments of Sabah and Sarawak, while the remaining 5% is transferred to the federal government. He further explained that the petroleum industry—including East Malaysia’s operations—runs under production-sharing contracts, with about 80% of revenue used to cover exploration, production, and operational costs.
This year, payments have amounted to RM2.233 billion to Sarawak and RM1.226 billion to Sabah, according to the minister. By this logic, the federal government receives a roughly equivalent sum, meaning Putrajaya only sees about RM3.5 billion from Petronas annually. For perspective, even the recent one-off RM100 cash aid to Malaysians cost the government RM2 billion, while the RM200 million donated to rebuilding efforts in Gaza represents just a sixth of what the federal government received from Sabah’s oil revenue.
Even if the minister can substantiate these figures, one can imagine that many Sabahans and Sarawakians might remain unconvinced. They can see tangible reminders of Petronas’ wealth, like Putrajaya and the Twin Towers, while their own states have yet to see comparable infrastructure.
It’s a bit like an employee being shown a company’s accounts by their boss to justify why their salaries cannot be raised—while their boss's brand-new Bentley sits in the parking lot. Which will the employee believe: the numbers or the car?
Similarly, no matter how thorough Putrajaya’s accounting books are, Sabahans and Sarawakians are likely to continue pressing for a fairer share of oil and gas revenue. After all, what one sees often matters more than what one is told—especially when national pride and regional development are at stake.
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