KUALA LUMPUR, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's crude oil and condensate production decreased marginally for two consecutive quarters, declining by 0.5 percent year on year to 48 million barrels in the first quarter, official data showed Tuesday.
The contraction was due to a 5.8 percent deterioration in crude oil production to 33.2 million barrels, which accounted for 69.2 percent of the total, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement.
Nevertheless, the production of condensate remained strong with a double-digit growth of 14 percent.
In the meantime, the production of natural gas climbed further to 9.1 percent, recording 799.8 billion cubic feet as compared to 733.3 billion cubic feet in the same quarter of the preceding year.
For a quarter-on-quarter comparison, the production of crude oil and condensate declined by 2.3 percent as compared to a growth of 7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023.
According to the DOSM, the export value of crude oil and condensate was 9.1 billion ringgit (1.94 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter, with Thailand being the top destination, accounting for 26.4 percent. It was followed by Japan with 26.2 percent and India with 14.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the export value of refined petroleum products amounted to 33.6 billion ringgit in the cited quarter. Singapore was the top destination country with a 22.1 percent share, followed by Indonesia (18.7 percent) and Australia (15 percent).
As for liquefied natural gas (LNG) export, it recorded a value of 18.5 billion ringgit, with a total of 44.5 percent exported to Japan. This was followed by China (25.2 percent) and South Korea (22 percent). (1 ringgit equals 0.21 U.S. dollar) ■
