Overview
One of the government’s economic objectives is to grow and diversify Brunei’s downstream oil and gas sector. Current downstream activities include the Brunei Methanol Company Sdn Bhd (BMC) methanol plant in operation since 2010, the multi-billion-dollar Pulau Muara Besar (PMB) Refinery and Petrochemical Plant operated by Hengyi Industries Sdn Bhd since the end of 2019, and the Brunei Fertilizer Industries plant with a production capacity of 1,365,000 MT of urea per year which recently began operations mid-2021. The Hengyi petrochemical plant previously announced plans for Phase 2 expanded operations to start by 2027 or 2028, although the scale and timeline for that expansion appears to be under revision.
The export of downstream products has increased the country’s share of non-oil and gas exports from 1.8 percent in 2019 to 17.5 percent in 2022.
Leading Sub-Sectors
- Downstream petrochemical manufacturing
Opportunities
U.S. firms have the experience and capability to provide basic materials, equipment, and services to downstream companies. This includes providing capacity building or development courses.