Energy

With oil and gas prices at a relative low and global economic activity slowing, these are undoubtedly challenging times for oil and gas companies, producers and countries worldwide, and Malaysia is no exception. Yet despite the downsides, these are also key times for the development of new resources and strategies in the sector, with Malaysia...

Malaysia’s development strategy for 2015-20, the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP), continues to stress previous commitments to “pursuing green growth for sustainability and resilience”, a concept that in power terms involves full support for the development of renewable energy (RE) projects nationwide.

Rapid economic growth over the last few decades has propelled Malaysia into the ranks of the major Asian manufacturing and industrial centres. Demand for power has been increasing sharply with this, particularly in urban clusters on the peninsula and, increasingly, in Sabah and Sarawak. Meanwhile, as per capita incomes rise, household demand...

In a post on Twitter in late November 2015, Sri Lanka’s president, Maithripala Sirisena, wrote, “[Sri Lanka] has great potential to generate renewable energy, and it’s essential that we encourage and inspire investors’ focus towards it.” The statement served to reiterate the government’s commitment to the development of sustainable energy...

The offshore Mannar Basin has seen an influx of energy-related activity in the past decade. Since 2007 exploration carried out in Mannar – which is part of the Laccadive Sea and the Indian Ocean – has yielded evidence of considerable oil and gas deposits. As of early 2016, however, commercial production has not yet started, and Sri Lanka...

In a manifesto released in the run-up to Sri Lanka’s 2015 presidential election, Maithripala Sirisena, the then-presidential candidate for the New Democratic Front party, put energy sector reform at the top of the agenda, noting that “energy constitutes one of the foremost factors deciding the future of the country”. Since winning the election...