KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 — Malaysian state oil firm Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) today denied a media report that said staff at one of its units were asked to take a pay cut due to the plunge in global oil prices.

“It is misreporting. There is no salary cut and retrenchment for Petronas staff,” Chief Executive Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin told reporters following a shareholders meeting for a Petronas unit.

Local newspaper SunBiz earlier reported that Petronas Carigali issued an internal memo asking its staff to take a 20 per cent pay cut due to low oil prices.

Petronas in a statement today said a memo was directed to five external service contractors comprising 170 workers, and not its own employees.

“Due to current market conditions, Petronas, as with all oil and gas players globally has initiated cost cutting measures among contractors and vendors,” it said, adding that the memo had asked for a salary reduction of 20 per cent for those concerned.

Petronas, which supplies most of Malaysia’s oil and gas revenue, has had to cut its capital expenditure and domestic spending this year. The company established bond and sukuk programmes in March to raise up to US$17 billion (RM63 billion) in working capital. — Reuters