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
| 22 Jul 26 |
Malaysia: Velesto awarded i-RDC services contract by Chevron Malaysia Velesto Energy has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Velesto Drilling Sdn. Bhd. has been awarded a contract by Hess Exploration And Production Malaysia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chevron ('Chevron Malaysia'), a Production Arrangement Contractor of PETRONAS, for the provision of Integrated Rig, Drilling and Completion (‘i-RDC’) services for Chevron Malaysia’s 2026–2028 North Malay Basin Full Field Development Campaign. |
| 20 Jul 26 |
Malaysia: Second well in Malaysia campaign flows at 2,800 bopd AIM-listed Jadestone Energy has announced that the second well in the 2026 Malaysia infill drilling campaign has been successfully drilled and brought online at 2,800 bopd. |
| 13 Jul 26 |
Malaysia: PETRONAS and Shizuoka Gas reinforce longstanding LNG partnership PETRONAS LNG (PLL), a subsidiary of Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) has signed a new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Shizuoka Gas, reinforcing a trusted partnership spanning three decades and reaffirming their shared commitment to strengthening long-term energy security. |
| 10 Jul 26 |
Malaysia: EnQuest announces proposed $833 million acquisition of Participating Interests in PSCs Offshore Malaysia EnQuest has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, EnQuest Petroleum Production Malaysia, has agreed to acquire three separate packages that include interests in four offshore production sharing contracts in Malaysia. |
| 02 Jul 26 |
Malaysia: TotalEnergies divests its minority non-operated interest in Marjoram gas field TotalEnergies has announced the divestment to INPEX of its 85% interest in Block 2E offshore Malaysia, representing a net interest of 8.5% in the Marjoram gas field currently under development, for a consideration of USD 350 million. |
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
