Projects in offshore Malaysia are forecast to see the largest capital expenditure (capex) increase in the region, at over US$59 billion (RM176 billion) over the next five years ahead of even China and India, according to a recent market report.

The Regional Perspectives Offshore Asia Oil and Gas Market Report to 2015 predicted that deepwater developments in Malaysia will continue to gather pace, with 84 fixed platform units and eight floating production units to be installed between 2011 and 2015.

During the same period, the country is also expected to spend some US$7.2 billion (RM23 billion) on 2,490km of pipelines, ranking it first in the Asia pipelines market.

It is also leading the foray into subsea development, with an expected 57 units laid during this period.

"Capex investments in exploration and production activities, such as offshore technology, is important for long producing countries like Malaysia," said Dr Arnis Judzis, Board of Directors representative, Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) and OTC Asia Event Oversight Committee member, in a statement today.

"It is to tackle production decline, and to continue to compete with new players, as smaller countries such as Brunei, Bangladesh and Myanmar come into the market," he said. -- Bernama