The company's output for the year to March 31, 1998 was 196.2 million barrels compared with 179.0 million barrels the previous year, Petronas said.

Petronas said it expected investment in the oil and gas sector to stand at 56 billion ringgit between 1997 and 2001.

"As a national policy we have capped production at around 650,000 barrels per day in order to prolong the reserve line for the nation," Hassan Marican, Petronas president and chief executive, said at a news briefing after the release of the company's annual results.

He said Petronas had no plans to raise output "especially when everybody else in cutting down production".

"You can produce but there must be a market," he said.

Hassan said that between 1992 and 1996 about 43 billion ringgit was invested in the country's oil and gas industry, of which about 13 billion ringgit or30 per cent was in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI).

"From 1997 to 2001, the country's petroleum industry is expected to attract investments of approximately 56 billion ringgit of which 31 per cent will be generated from FDIs," he said.

Despite the current regional economic turmoil and low oil price level, Hassan said about seven billion ringgit would be invested in the upstream sector and eight billion ringgit in the downstream sector of the industry in 1998.

Petronas said on Tuesday that the the success of Opec's recent cut in crude oil production was yet to be seen.

"There are attempts by petroleum producing countries to cut crude production. So far the success of this is yet to be seen," Hassan Marican said.

Opec last month pledged to cut world supplies by a hefty 2.6 million barrels per day to help lift oil prices from their lowest level in 12 years.

Asked if Petronas has any plans to cut crude production," Hassan said: "As I've said before, we are a small player in theinternational market, so there is no plan to cut back on production."

Petronas produces about 650,000 barrels per day of oil.