Oil giant Petronas will continue to suffer due to the crude oil price decline, said Moody’s Investors Service.

The credit rating agency’s senior credit officer, Vikas Halan, said oil prices are likely to stay between US$30 (RM120) and US$40 (RM160) in the next three years.

Companies with revenues which are tied to crude oil prices will therefore be most affected, he said in a media roundtable with journalists in Kuala Lumpur today.

“Petronas is one company that is going to be most impacted by the crude oil price decline."

Nevertheless, even after the projected decline, Vikas said Petronas’ rating remains at a sovereign level.

“And we confirm the rating with a stable outlook. Petronas is the only company going the downturn with a net cash position.”

Commenting further on the decline of oil prices, Vikas said this was due to the oversupply situation.

Currently, the world's production exceeds consumption by 1.5 million barrels a day and this does not even include the additional 1.5 million barrels excess inventory, he pointed out.

In order for the price of oil to move, this would require several structural changes, perhaps a production freeze from Russia and Saudi Arabia, said Vikas.

“Until that happens, I don't see that prices will recover sustainably, because there's too much supply and uncertainty.”

In a bid to stay afloat amid low crude oil prices, Petronas, early this month, announced that it would be laying off 'under 1,000' of its employees under a restructuring exercise.

The firm was hit by a slump in oil prices, which fell to their lowest since 2003 in January.

Meanwhile, asked to comment on the change of Petronas’ advisor , Vikas said Moody’s has yet to see any impact this had on the oil giant.

“At the moment, it (Petronas) is doing what oil and gas companies should be doing - reducing cash outflow.

“(When you talk about the) advisor; it’s too big a company to be run by a single advisor,” he said.

Cabinet recently removed former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad from his post as Petronas advisor, a position he held since retiring as premier in 2003.

The Prime Minister's Office said Mahathir should no longer be holding positions in any government-linked entities, as he has renounced support for the present government.