2.

Oil and gas sector

This chapter begins with an overview of the oil and gas industry in Malaysia. Description of the value chain of the industry is given in section 2.2, followed by the industry’s economic performance in section 2.3. Section 2.4 focuses on the scope of the inquiry regarding issues in the oil and gas industry.

2.1

Oil and gas industry in Malaysia

This section provides an overview of the oil and gas industry in Malaysia.

2.1.1 History Oil and gas production have been a mainstay of Malaysia’s growth since oil was first drilled in 1910 in Miri, Sarawak. The first oil well (known as The Grand Old Lady) which was discovered by Shell, started with a production of 83 barrels per day (bbls/d) and reached a maximum of 15,000 bbls/d in 1929. There were no other drilling activities elsewhere in Borneo or Peninsular Malaya until the 1950s. [1, 2, 3] Petroleum activities began increasing significantly in 1960s due to the discovery and development of offshore fields in Borneo. The late 1960s saw the beginning of offshore oil exploration in the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. In the 1970s, some oil fields in Malaysia were producing 90,000 to 99,000 bbls/d. [2] In the early days, foreign oil companies dominated the oil and gas industry in Malaysia with Shell and Esso being the two major players. This was followed by several other foreign companies such as Conoco, Mobil, Aquitaine, Oceanic and Teiseki. The national company, Petronas came on to the scene in 1974. [2] In return for royalties and taxes, the foreign companies were given petroleum concessions by state governments, which accorded them exclusive rights to explore and produce resources. However, exploration licences of these companies ceased to have effect with the passing of the Petroleum Development Act in Parliament in 1974, which granted Petronas ownership and control of the