In that year, the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company (the forerunner of modern-day Sarawak Shell) struck oil in the town of Miri, Sarawak marking the start of the Malaysian petroleum industry. However, further attempts to discover other oil fields on shore failed to find petroleum deposits large enough to justify drilling activities.

During the 1950s, attention was diverted to the offshore areas of Sarawak and Sabah with the onset of advances in offshore petroleum technology. Marine seismic surveys were carried out for the first time in Sarawak in 1954. In 1962, oil was discovered in two areas offshore Sarawak. Other finds followed in rapid succession. In Peninsular Malaysia, petroleum exploration activities began in 1968 and the first oil field was discovered in 1971. In 1974, through the Petroleum Development Act, PETRONAS was incorporated, vesting in it the entire ownership and control of the country’s petroleum resources.

Click on links below to see an overview of Malaysia's crude oil, condensate and natural gas production volumes.