In the New Policies Scenario, Southeast Asia’s oil production remains essentially flat to
2020 (at around 2.5 mb/d) and then gradually declines to 1.6 mb/d in 2040 (Figure 3.2). The
resilience of Southeast Asia oil production in the period to 2020 could apparently contrast
with the steep decline of oil prices since the second-half of 2014. In reality, the oil supply
industry tends to respond slowly to price fluctuations, with operators reducing spending on
new projects, while maximising already producing assets as a way to recover costs.
Moreover, countries such as Malaysia and Viet Nam (the only one with oil output
increasing, by about 50 thousand barrels per day [kb/d] by 2020) had already started to
implement measures to counteract declining domestic oil production before the oil price
plunged.