| Azlan Othman |

THE next five years will mark a critical shift in Brunei Darussalam’s energy landscape, presenting an exciting time for Brunei Darussalam as the country embarks on new deepwater exploration ventures.

Meanwhile, in the downstream oil and gas sector, the oil refinery and petrochemical plant at the Pulau Muara Besar Industrial Park will be commissioned towards the end of 2019.

Making note of these points was Minister of Energy, Manpower and Industry Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mat Suny bin Haji Mohd Hussein during the Brunei Darussalam – People’s Republic of Bangladesh Business Forum held at the Empire Hotel & Country Club yesterday.

The event was attended by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is on a three-day official visit to Brunei Darussalam from April 21 to 23.

Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mat Suny added that the petrochemical plant at Pulau Muara Besar will have a refining capacity of 175,000 barrels of crude oil per day and a maximum output capacity of eight million tonnes per annum of petroleum products, including paraxylene, benzene, LPG, Jet A1, gasoline and diesel.

He extended an invitation to interested parties to further leverage on the ecosystem created by the plant to drive further expansion of the downstream oil and gas industry.

“The Brunei Fertilizer Industries ammonia and urea plant is also currently under construction, with commercial operations expected to begin in the middle of 2021,” he added. “Also as part of the changing energy transition in Brunei Darussalam, our national liquefied natural gas (LNG) production company, Brunei LNG Sdn Bhd, will be offering up to 7.4 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG for new trading contracts from the second quarter of 2023 onwards. Presently, we encourage the initiation of discussions from prospective buyers from an early stage.”

Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mat Suny also said that continued efforts will be placed on diversifying Brunei Darussalam’s energy mix, pointing out that there has been continued interest in the development of sustainable and renewable energy towards fulfilling Brunei Darussalam’s climate change commitments under the Paris Agreement.

On Brunei-Bangladesh trade and investment ties, the minister said, “Indeed, the opportunities for expansion in trade, investment and business cooperation between Brunei Darussalam and Bangladesh are many.

“We invite you to explore further discussions with representatives from our various national agencies: the Brunei Economic Development Board, our forefront agency for investments in Brunei Darussalam; DARe (Darussalam Enterprise), our national micro, small and medium enterprise agency and custodian of national industrial sites; and most importantly, Brunei Darussalam’s various businesses and industry players.

“We look forward with great interest to ideas and suggestions on how we can enhance our collaborations further.”

Meanwhile, Sheikh Hasina called on the Brunei business community to forge business links with their Bangladesh counterparts to foster growth and prosperity, and to experience firsthand the business opportunities available in Bangladesh.

“I brought a huge number of business people from our country and most of them never visited Brunei,” she said. “As I have visited (your country) several times, I know Brunei very well and it is a beautiful country, very peaceful and with wonderful people. I therefore invite the business community (in Bangladesh) to come and explore business opportunities (in Brunei). The same goes to the Brunei businessmen – come to Bangladesh.”

Also present at the forum were Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Ali bin Haji Apong as the Minister-in-Attendance; Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Awang Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin; Acting Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dr Haji Abdul Manaf bin Haji Metussin; members of the Legislative Council; and permanent secretaries and deputy permanent secretaries at the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Finance and Economy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism, Ministry of Energy, Manpower and Industry, and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.