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THE ENERGY SECTOR
Ministry of Energy
As the country works towards achieving Brunei
Vision 2035, each sector in Brunei Darussalam
has a significant role to fulfill. This includes
the energy sector, particularly the oil and gas
industry, which has contributed tremendously to
the country’s growth over the past nine decades.
The Ministry of Energy, Manpower and Industry
was renamed and restructured to Ministry of
Energy on November 18, 2019 to focus on energy
matters.
LegCo 2019
The 15
th
Legislative Council (LegCo) session was
held in March 2019. During the session, Minister
of Energy Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mat
Suny bin Haji Mohd Hussein provided several
statistics related to the production of oil, natural
gas and methanol in the country.
In 2018, the domestic oil production was 111,500
barrels per day, whereas the production of
natural gas was 234,400 barrels per day. Most
of the natural gas was exported as liquefied
natural gas (LNG). Meanwhile, the production
of methanol in 2018 was 7.28 million tonnes per
day.
The minister said new oil and gas field
development activities are being upgraded for
production in the coming years. Also included
is the development of several oil and gas fields
in the deep waters that will generate new
opportunities in the country’s energy sector.
The new oil and gas development is expected
to boost the oil and gas production by 30 per
cent over the next five years. In addition, a
minimum of five exploration wells were planned
to be drilled in 2019, including two which could
identify potential new areas.
In November 2019, the Minister of Energy
conducted a dialogue session with LegCo
members. He said that the ministry will focus on
the regulation and management of the country’s
hydrocarbon. The ministry will maximise the
sustainable development of the downstream
sector and other industry sectors to combat the
turbulent oil prices.
Following the slight recovery of the oil prices in
2019, the minister said Brunei must be cautious
in the use and management of its hydrocarbon
resources. As the regulator of the oil and gas
sector, the minister stressed on the increase
of exploration activities in 2019 to boost
hydrocarbon resources and the production of oil
and gas to reap the benefits of rising oil prices.
Downstream oil and gas
With nearly 90 years’ experience in the oil and
gas industry, Brunei has developed significant
expertise and strength, particularly in the
upstream sector and LNG. In comparison, the
sector’s downstream industries are in their early
stages in terms of development and maturity. In
2010, a methanol plant was commissioned and
started exporting its products within the region.
Several huge downstream oil and gas projects
are due to commence operations in 2020. This
includes the Pulau Muara Besar oil refinery and
petrochemical plant, which has the capacity to
process 175,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
During the dialogue session with LegCo members
in November 2019, the Minister of Energy said
that several fuels have started on trial production
such as diesel, jet A-1, gasoline and liquefied
petroleum gas, with a small amount exported to
neighbouring countries.
Another major foreign direct investment (FDI)
is the Brunei Fertilizer Industries Sdn Bhd (BFI).
The ammonia and urea plant is expected to start
operations in 2021 and will contribute to the
country’s economy.
Brunei’s current target for downstream
economic output is to achieve BND5 billion
per year by 2035. The country welcomes FDIs
in the downstream sector, particularly in areas
related to methanol, ammonia and urea. These
three products can be produced in Brunei and
used as feedstock to manufacture derivatives
such as methylamine, formaldehyde, and
polyoxymethylene (POM) which can promote
opportunities in the manufacturing of wood-
based products, tableware, plastics, textiles and
other items.
The downstream industries will be further
developed to generate economic growth, create
employment for locals and spur other spin-
off industries. To support the development of
downstream industries, two dedicated industrial
sites have been allocated and reserved, namely
Sungai Liang Industrial Park (SPARK) and Pulau
Muara Besar (PMB) Industrial Park.
These sites provide new projects the benefit of
proximity to existing and future petrochemical
plants so as to achieve cross-industry synergy
and optimise logistical efficiency.