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
| 25 Feb 26 |
Malaysia: Velesto secures contract for East Belumut Phase 9 Velesto Energy, through its wholly owned subsidiary Velesto Drilling, has been awarded a drilling contract of approximately USD16.5 million by Jadestone Energy (Malaysia). The contract involves the provision of NAGA 8 to support infill drilling activities at the East Belumut field. |
| 16 Feb 26 |
Malaysia: DUG and Searcher sign Multi-Client 3D seismic data reprocessing agreement offshore East Sarawak Malaysia DUG and Searcher have signed an agreement for the provision of multi-Client 3D seismic data reprocessing off the coast of East Sarawak. Under the terms of the Agreement DUG and Searcher will reprocess previously acquired 3D seismic surveys within the agreed East Sarawak multi-client reprocessing area, which will be made available for licensing to petroleum exploration and development companies. |
| 11 Feb 26 |
Malaysia: PETRONAS launches Malaysia Bid Round 2026, strengthening Malaysia as energy investment hub PETRONAS has launched the Malaysia Bid Round 2026 (MBR 2026), with the theme 'Advantaged Energy: Accelerating and Shaping Tomorrow', aiming at strengthening Malaysia’s position as a premium investment destination. |
| 11 Feb 26 |
Malaysia: EnQuest awarded Cendramas PSC partnership in Peninsular Malaysia EnQuest has announced its wholly-owned affiliate, EnQuest Petroleum Production Malaysia, has received a Letter of Award ('LOA') as a Partner in the Cendramas Production Sharing Contract ('PSC') in partnership with Medco Asia Pacific and DIALOG Resources by PETRONAS through Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM). |
| 10 Feb 26 |
Malaysia: PETRONAS and Sabah State strengthen collaboration with PSC award and Mutiara Cluster Milestones Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM), PETRONAS announced the award of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for the Permata Cluster located off the coast of Sabah, representing the successful conclusion of the three Discovered Resource Opportunities (DRO) clusters and the progression of an additional exploration block offered under the Malaysia Bid Round 2025 (MBR 2025) launched early last year. |
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
