KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's petroleum reserves for oil and gas resources are projected to last for only 15 years, according to the Reserves Life Index calculation.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, in a parliamentary written reply said, as of Jan 1, 2022, Malaysia's probable and proven reserves of petroleum totalled 6.9 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
"However, this can be optimised (and stretched) to over 40 years with high capital investment, new technology, as well as a more stable and competitive investment landscape.
"Of the overall oil and gas fields in the peninsula, Sabah and Sarawak, 70 per cent had been awarded to companies for exploration and development," she said in reply to a question from Datuk Indera Mohd Shahar Abdullah (BN-Paya Besar).
She also mentioned that a study and data gathering are being conducted on unexplored blocks to be offered in the next Malaysia Bid Round (MBR).
Meanwhile, she said Petronas was developing the Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) on a 2,551ha land, covering an oil refinery plant with a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day, a petrochemical plant with a capacity of 3.6 million tonnes per year, a co-generation plant, a regasification terminal, as well as crude oil and petroleum products storage tanks.
"Petronas' investment in the PIC development, including PRefChem, which is an oil refinery and petrochemical plants joint venture with Saudi Aramco, amounts to RM109.6 billion," she added.