Central & SE Asia / Australasia
Country profile: Malaysia
Location: | Southeastern Asia, peninsula bordering Thailand and northern one-third of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia, Brunei, and the South China Sea, south of Vietnam |
Climate: | tropical; annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to February) monsoons |
Terrain: | coastal plains rising to hills and mountains |
Size: | 329750 sq. km total (Land area: 328550 sq. km Water area: 1200 sq.km) |
Population: | 25,274,133 (July 2008 est.) |
Languages: | Bahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai |
Government: | constitutional monarchy |
Capital city: | Kuala Lumpur |
Legal system: | based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court at request of supreme head of the federation; Islamic law is applied to Muslims in matters of family law and religion; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Currency: | ringgit (MYR) |
Licensing: |
Country profile
During the late 18th and 19th centuries, Great Britain established colonies and protectorates in the area of current Malaysia; these were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. In 1948, the British-ruled territories on the Malay Peninsula formed the Federation of Malaya, which became independent in 1957. Malaysia was formed in 1963 when the former British colonies of Singapore and the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the northern coast of Borneo joined the Federation.
The first several years of the country's history were marred by a Communist insurgency, Indonesian confrontation with Malaysia, Philippine claims to Sabah, and Singapore's secession from the Federation in 1965. During the 22-year term of Prime Minister MAHATHIR bin Mohamad (1981-2003), Malaysia was successful in diversifying its economy from dependence on exports of raw materials to expansion in manufacturing, services, and tourism.
Energy production and consumption
Oil | Gas | |
Production: | 751,800 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 60 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
Consumption: | 501,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 31 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
Exports: | 611,200 bbl/day (2004 est.) | 29 billion cu m (2004 est.) |
Imports: | 278,600 bbl/day (2004 est.) | |
Reserves: | 3 billion bbl (2007 est.) | 2 trillion cu m (1 January 2006 est.) |
Major fields: |
Malaysia - recent news
14 Sep 25 |
Malaysia: PETRONAS delivers Malaysia's first locally blended SAF, marking breakthrough in Aviation Decarbonisation PETRONAS has successfully delivered Malaysia’s first blended Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to KL International Airport (KLIA) for the Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG), establishing PETRONAS’ in-house capability and readiness to provide continuous, scalable supply in Malaysia. |
09 Sep 25 |
Malaysia: McDermott awarded deepwater subsea contract by PTTEP in Malaysia McDermott has been awarded a large* offshore subsea contract by PTTEP Sabah Oil Limited (PTTEP) for the Block H gas field expansion project, located offshore Sabah, in East Malaysia covering the Alum, Bemban and Permai deepwater fields. |
28 Aug 25 |
Malaysia: PXGEO wins two-year geophysical contract to support Malaysia upstream activities PXGEO has secured its first contract in Malaysia to deliver offshore seismic data acquisition services under a two-year agreement. This includes a minimum commitment of 365 days of acquisition activity over the contract term utilizing the PXGEO 2 seismic vessel which will mobilize this month (August). |
28 Aug 25 |
Malaysia: PETRONAS Carigali achieves first hydrocarbons from Bindu field PETRONAS Carigali, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PETRONAS, has achieved first hydrocarbon production from the Bindu field, located 210 kms off the coast of Terengganu. |
21 Aug 25 |
Malaysia: Strohm to supply production TCP Jumpers to a major Southeast Asian operator Strohm, the world’s first and leading thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP) company, has been awarded a contract to supply four TCP Jumpers for installation in a deepwater field offshore Malaysia. The end customer is a major Southeast Asian operator with international exploration projects. |
Malaysia - more news
Other countries in this region
- Australia,
- Bangladesh,
- Brunei,
- Cambodia,
- China,
- Fiji,
- Hong Kong,
- India,
- Indonesia,
- Japan,
- Laos,
- Maldives,
- Mongolia,
- Myanmar,
- Nepal,
- New Zealand,
- North Korea,
- Pakistan,
- Palau,
- Papua New Guinea,
- Philippines,
- Singapore,
- South Korea,
- Sri Lanka,
- Taiwan,
- Thailand,
- Timor Leste,
- Vietnam