O&G REMAINS MAIN GROSS NATIONAL INCOME GENERATOR

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 13 (Bernama) -- The oil and gas (O&G) sector will continue
to be the main gross national income generator for Malaysia under the Economic
Transformation Programme, Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Peter Chin
Fah Kui said Monday.

In a speech read out by the ministry's Energy Division Senior Undersecretary
Somasundram Ramasamy at the Asia Pacific Offshore Conference here, he said the
industry was the main contributor to the country's economic development since
1970.

"The O&G sector contributes about 13 per cent of our gross domestic product
and also contributes substantially to our foreign exchange earnings, as we are
the second largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, after Qatar," he said.

He said there was an abundance of hydrocarbon yet to be extracted because
Malaysia still did not have the technology to extract it economically.

Enhanced Oil Recovery could be one of the issues which would need a noble
contribution from scientists and technologists of the industry, he added.
-- BERNAMA