Petronas output cut unlikely to impact government's funds

KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd's (Petronas) move to lower its crude oil output by up to 20,000 barrels per day next year, should not significantly affect the country's reserves, as the cut only represents less than 5% of Petronas' current daily oil production, said the Second Finance Minister Datuk Johari Abdul Ghani.
Previously Petronas said it will pay the government a dividend of RM13 billion next year, lower than RM16 billion this year.
"Currently Petronas produces nearly 500,000 barrels (per day), that means it (the cut) is slightly less than 5% (of the total production), so the impact is unlikely significant," he told reporters after giving speech at the LRT Ampang Line 20 year anniversary celebration here today.
Yesterday, the country's sole crude oil producer said it will make a voluntary adjustment to Malaysia's crude oil production starting from January of 2017, which is in line with a recent agreement between Opec and non-Opec producers to reduce global supply.
Johari said the decline in global oil production, somehow will help to slightly increase the world oil market prices.
However, he said the rises will not be too drastic, as Opec members are only producing one-third of the global oil production.