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
| 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. |
| 19 Aug 25 |
Malaysia: Seascape Energy provides summary of CPR covering its Malaysia assets Seascape Energy, an E&P company focused on Southeast Asia, has provided a summary of its Contingent and Prospective Resources from a CPR commissioned from Sproule-ERCE covering the Temaris Cluster and the priority fields in the DEWA Complex Cluster. |
| 03 Aug 25 |
Malaysia: PETRONAS and Microsoft expand collaboration to support Malaysia's AI ecosystem PETRONAS and Microsoft signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), further extending their strategic collaboration in multiple areas across innovation and sustainability to support the development of an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled economy and ecosystem in Malaysia, while advancing efforts toward energy transition in Asia. |
| 21 Jul 25 |
Malaysia: PETRONAS strengthens collaboration in Sabah, inks equity deal with SMJ Energy PETRONAS, through its subsidiary PETRONAS LNG Sdn. Bhd. (PLSB), has signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) with SMJ Energy to formalise the terms for a 25% equity participation of SMJ Energy in PFLNG 3 Sdn. Bhd. |
| 07 Jul 25 |
Malaysia: PETRONAS forges new milestones for Sabah's sustainable energy growth PETRONAS, through Malaysia Petroleum Management (MPM), reaffirmed its longstanding partnership with the Sabah State Government by formalising several key agreements at the Sabah Oil, Gas & Energy Conference & Exhibition (SOGCE) 2025. These milestones reflect a shared commitment to advancing Sabah’s energy landscape through collaborative, sustainable, and value-driven development. |
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
