BINTULU, Nov 1 — Sarawak Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg today invited the national oil company Petronas to set up a branch campus of Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) in Bintulu.

He said the state government is prepared to set aside a piece of land for the construction of the campus.

"It is up to the Petronas management to take the offer,” he said during the handover and opening ceremony of the local Maktab Rendah Sains Mara campus to Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) by Petronas.

In a later press conference, Abang Johari said the proposed campus can be used by Petroleum Sarawak Berhad (Petros) and Sarawak Petchem Sdn Bhd for specialised training instead of having to send their workers to the peninsula.

"At the moment, Petros and Sarawak Petchem send their workers to Terengganu for specialised training,” he said.

He said many technologies, like carbon capture storage (CCS), need specialised skills.

CCS is a process in which carbon dioxide from industrial use is to separate, treated, and transported for long-term storage to be used as part of measures to reduce global warming.

"Whether it is a college or campus, maybe Petronas can work with us to have the training centre,” Abang Johari said.

He said students graduating from Bintulu MRSM could also go for further training to gain practical skills at the proposed Bintulu UTP campus.

"For example, how do they transport carbon? Or if we produce hydrogen, how are we going to transport hydrogen?” he asked.

"You need to have some sort of specialised skills to do all this,” he added. Petronas chairman Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh who was also present at the ceremony was asked if he would accept Abang Johari’s invitation and said the oil giant will need to study the proposal first.

He said the proposal is good, but there are other implications that Petronas has to take into account.

"We need to take many factors into account before we make the decision,” he said.