Concerns about Malaysia's dwindling oil reserves have been underscored by a recent decision by Petronas, the state energy group, to take a stake in Rosneft, the Russian oil producer.

The $1.1bn (€855m, £575m) deal to gain access to Russia's oil fields comes after Petronas recently reported that domestic oil production last year had fallen by nearly 5 per cent to 700,000 barrels a day. Malaysia is south-east Asia's largest oil producer after Indonesia.