Law and institutional reform minister Azalina Othman Said said the national oil company invested RM86.5 billion in the peninsula, while Sabah received RM56.3 billion between 2018 and 2024.

She said this in a written reply to Mordi Bimol (PH-Mas Gading) who wanted a breakdown of Petronas’s annual exploration and production costs for oil and gas operations in states that produced such commodities during that period.

Azalina said Sarawak also generated the highest upstream revenue for Petronas.

Upstream revenue is profits made from locating and producing oil and gas before it is refined or sold as fuel.

“For petroleum revenue, the peninsula recorded RM284.8 billion, Sabah RM205 billion and Sarawak RM285.4 billion.”

Azalina said overall, the country’s upstream revenue between 2018 and 2024 amounted to RM775.2 billion, while total upstream investments stood at RM256 billion, equivalent to about 33% of total returns.

She said the data showed the scale of investment needed to sustain petroleum output and the strong contribution of Sabah and Sarawak to the growth of the industry.