Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur
Petronas still driving Malaysia’s upstream
The state-owned firm is doing most of the running, but IOCs are also active as the country seeks to sustain both production and LNG exports in particular
Malaysian state-owned Petronas’ policy of pressing on with offshore development despite the pandemic began to reap dividends around the turn of the year, with reports of several new finds and fresh drilling activity off the coast of Sarawak state. The firm announced another offshore gas discovery in the area in January, at Hadrah-1in Balingian province. The success of the wildcat followed similar finds at Sirung-1 and Kulintang-1 last year. Malaysia also continues to attract the majors to explore new territory and tap recent discoveries. Shell began survey work off the east Malaysian coast in early February and plans to begin exploratory drilling later this year. The major has the Davana, Ke
Also in this section
1 April 2026
Golden Pass’s startup offers QatarEnergy a timely boost but may also force a difficult choice between honouring disrupted contracts and capitalising on soaring spot LNG prices
1 April 2026
It is not a case of if or when, but the length and magnitude of economic damage from elevated oil prices
1 April 2026
The US-Iran conflict demonstrates the need for diversification in several senses of the word. It also exposes the limits of Washington applying pressure on major oil and gas producers it considers geopolitical adversaries
31 March 2026
Disappointing results in its bidding round are a reality check for Libya, and global exploration generally
