Dr M says Oilfields were given to Brunei

Pro-Malay group Perkasa has urged Prime Minister Najib Razak's administration to form a royal commission to investigate allegations, raised by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, over offshore oil fields that were allegedly given to Brunei in exchange for Brunei dropping its claim to Limbang in Sarawak.

Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali said a lot of questions still remained unanswered, despite Dr Mahathir's successor, former Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, refuting Dr Mahathir's allegations suggesting mismanagement of billions in oil revenues.

"Perkasa wants Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, the government, to set a royal commission or at least a white paper on the issue on oil blocks L and M, situated at the borders of Malaysia-Brunei," the Pasir Mas MP said, referring to the areas in question. A royal commission is a major public inquiry, often for controversial matters of wide interest.

"I am not being prejudiced to either Dr Mahathir or Mr Abdullah Badawi, but ... this needs to be explained, the oil blocks are worth billions," said the Perkasa chief.

In a statement on Saturday, national oil company Petronas confirmed that the oil blocks were no longer part of Malaysia, but said that it will develop the oil blocks with Brunei on a "commercial basis", The Malaysian Insider reported yesterday.