Petronas, Malaysia’s state-owned oil and gas company, will reduce its dividend payment to the government by 38% in 2026 due to declining oil prices, projected to contribute RM20bn, down from this year’s RM32bn, marking its lowest payout since 2017.

Malaysia’s 2026 budget plan forecasts Brent crude oil prices to average between $60 and $65 per barrel, a decrease from the current year’s estimated $70/bbl, as the country reduces its dependency on oil revenue, accounting for 12.5% of total revenue.

The government aims to decrease the budget deficit to 3.5% of GDP by 2026 by improving tax collection and reducing subsidies, with a 9.9% drop in non-tax revenue to RM72.7bn primarily due to lower dividends from Petronas.

Petronas announced a strategic transformation in August following a 19% decline in after-tax profit for the first half of the year, finalizing an agreement with Woodside Energy Trading Singapore to procure one million tonnes per annum of liquefied natural gas.

Read more at Yahoo Finance: Malaysia’s Petronas to reduce dividend payment to government by 38% in 2026