As a net oil exporter and Southeast Asia's second largest energy producer behind Indonesia, Malaysia is the country most threatened by falling energy prices. In 2013, Malaysia exported the equivalent of 73 percent of its GDP, of which 22 percent came from exports of natural gas (9 percent), refined oil products (8 percent) and crude oil (5 percent). As of November 2014, Malaysian energy export revenues were marginally growing compared with the year before. Income from overseas crude sales rose 8.2 percent year-on-year, but revenue from natural gas and refined products exports grew by only 1.9 and 0.8 percent respectively. Although numbers are not in yet, revenues likely fell sharply in December and have continued to slide into January and February as benchmark oil prices dipped under $50 per barrel.

Reduced export revenues will not be the only place Malaysia will feel the effects of falling oil prices. In 2013, the latest year with full data available, oil-related income accounted for 29.5 percent of total government revenue, but only about 55 percent of that income came from taxes and export duties on domestic production. The remainder took the form of "dividends" from state-owned energy firm Petronas, which runs extensive international upstream and midstream operations in addition to its domestic functions, directly exposing it to fluctuations in global oil prices. On Dec. 2, Petronas announced it would reduce its total payments to the government by $11.8 billion in 2015, down from $17.3 billion in 2013. The firm also said it would cut capital and operational expenditures by 15-20 percent and 30 percent respectively, if the price of oil stayed below $75 per barrel. The company has not revised these projections yet, but with oil prices hovering below $50 per barrel, further cuts can be