Brent crude settled at US$76.15 a barrel, losing US$1.02, or US1.3%, while WTI crude settled at US$71.46 a barrel, shedding 55 cents, or 0.8%. — Reuters
KUALA LUMPUR: The production of crude oil and condensate totalled 41.8 million barrels in the third quarter of 2024 (3Q 2024), declining by 8.9 per cent compared to the previous year, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) reported.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin attributed this drop to a sharp 14.2 per cent decrease in crude oil production.
"In contrast, the condensate grew slightly, from 4.2 per cent to 4.6 per cent, while natural gas production also contracted by 2.7 per cent year-on-year, producing 659.3 billion cubic feet compared to 696.8 billion cubic feet in 2Q 2024,” he said in a statement today.
DOSM also noted that the weighted average lifting price (WALP) for crude oil and condensate in Malaysia dropped to US$82.0 per barrel in the 3Q 2024 compared to US$86.9 per barrel in the previous quarter.
Similarly, global benchmarks West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent also declined to US$76.2 per barrel (2Q 2024: US$81.7 per barrel) and US$79.8 per barrel (2Q 2024: US$84.6 per barrel), respectively.
On the external trade performance, Mohd Uzir said the export value of crude petroleum and condensate was RM8.2 billion, lower than RM9.4 billion in the previous quarter.
"Thailand continued as the top destination for exports of crude petroleum and condensate for three consecutive quarters with RM2.4 billion or 29.4 per cent of total exports, followed by Japan (20.6 per cent) and Australia (20.1 per cent).
"Export of refined petroleum products also declined to RM27.9 billion, from RM29.6 billion in the previous quarter. Singapore remained the top destination for these exports, making up RM7.5 billion, or 26.8 per cent of the total, followed by Indonesia (20.8 per cent) and Australia (18.7 per cent),” he said.
Meanwhile, the export value of liquefied natural gas (LNG) decreased from RM13 billion in the 2Q 2024 to RM12.7 billion in the current quarter, with 45.4 per cent exported to Japan, Korea (23.4 per cent) and China (22.4 per cent).
In terms of imports, Malaysia’s crude petroleum and condensate imports fell to RM14.2 billion in 3Q 2024, down from RM18.6 billion in Q2 2024 with Saudi Arabia as the largest supplier, accounting for 34.6 per cent of total imports, followed by the United Arab Emirates (20.9 per cent) and Qatar (9.2 per cent), he said.
As for refined petroleum product imports, he noted that it decreased to RM28.7 billion from RM29.8 billion in the previous quarter, with Singapore again being the largest contributor (34 per cent), followed by Korea (12.8 per cent) and China (9.4 per cent),” he said.
Imports of LNG, however, increased to RM2.8 billion, up from RM2.2 billion in 2Q 2024, with Australia remaining the leading source of these imports valued at RM1.9 billion, or 66.6 per cent, followed by the United States (19.7 per cent) and Papua New Guinea (6.3 per cent), Mohd Uzir added. - Bernama
