Azlan Othman
The Ministry of Energy has been allocated a budget of BND240,781,230 for financial year 2022/2023, which includes the proposed recurring allocation of BND162,613,340 and a development expenditure allocation of BND43,968,000.00 provided for the ministry which includes the Department of Electrical Services (DES).
Minister of Energy Yang Berhormat Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mat Suny bin Haji Mohd Hussein shared this at the 18th Legislative Council (LegCo) Meeting yesterday.
The ministry’s recurring expenditure for the financial year 2022/2023 is to enable the implementation of the Strategic Plan of the Ministry of Energy 2020-2025, in particular the initiatives and programmes planned for the financial year.
The ministry will continue to support efforts to ensure that the country’s economy will be more resilient through the growth of the downstream energy sector. It is hoped that this will position the country as a leading downstream energy industry hub for markets in the Asia-Pacific region in the future. This year, the production of downstream products will be increased to 14.6 million tonnes.
The country’s upstream oil and gas production target in 2022 is 300 kboe/d. In addition, exploration wells are planned for drilling this year, and blocks will also be offered to attract new operators to operate in the Sultanate.
In 2021, 42 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) of new oil and gas were discovered. Apart from exploring new areas, several rejuvenation projects on existing platforms and infrastructures were implemented.
In 2021, the Ministry of Energy prioritised the development of downstream projects to diversify the export contribution from the energy sector. Last year, the downstream sector recorded a production of 14.35 million tonnes with an estimated export value of BND10.7 billion.
The Brunei Fertilizer Industries (BFI) plant was completed in 2021, and subsequently produced urea products for the first time followed by its first export in early February.
