	malaysia to cut oil output further traders say malaysia s state oil company petronas will cut oil production to barrels per day bpd from may trade sources said malaysia cut its bpd target output by pct last september to support opec moves to boost prices and the latest cut would reduce output by pct from s target level petronas said in february that malaysia would maintain its pct production cutback until mid however the finance ministry said in its annual report that malaysia s  oil output was expected to rise to an average bpd in the ministry s forecast assumed average  prices at dlrs barrel bbl but prices have risen enough to permit further production cutbacks the sources said malaysia s benchmark tapis blend fetched above dlrs bbl this year against a low of dlrs bbl in july they said traders said further reductions by malaysia would add to the tight spot availabilities of asian grades caused by reduced indonesian and chinese  output the cutback will also help malaysia maintain prices as there is concern some buyers want to reduce term purchases due to the availability of cheaper alternatives the sources said in addition to term sales petronas has been offering two to three bbl spot cargoes of malaysian  each month for sale through tender the sources said however this practice is likely to dwindle given the reduced scale of production they said 
