Petronas may cut crude output by up to 20,000 bpd from Jan 2017

MALAYSIAN state-owned oil firm PetroliamNasional Bhd (Petronas) in a Wednesday morning statement signalled it may cut up to 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude output from January 2017.

Petronas said the "voluntary adjustment" to Malaysia's crude oil production is a response to the pact between Opec (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) and non-Opec producers on Dec 10 to cut output.

"This voluntary adjustment, taking into consideration prevailing market conditions and prospects, is expected to involve up to 20,000 bpd of crude oil from the country's 2016 average production," it said.

Opec on Dec 10 persuaded 11 non-member states to cut oil production by a combined 558,000 bpd starting Jan 1. This followed an agreement reached among Opec's member nations a week earlier to slash the cartel's output by 1.2 million bpd through the first six months of 2017.

The pact pulled together by Opec has spurred hopes of a supply glut easing and the oil market rebalancing, lifting oil prices before year-end.