Dwindling feedgas threatens Brunei LNG

The decades-long project needs new sources of gas, but territorial disputes with Malaysia are complicating matters

“The plant is back to business as usual,” the operator of Brunei LNG said in mid-June, just two days after an unexpected incident that featured black smoke and flaring forced the decades-old Southeast Asian project offline. But while the disruption proved short-lived, there are long-term challenges on the horizon for the flagship 7.2m t/yr facility as it faces a looming production decline from shrinking feedgas supply. Still a major revenue earner for Brunei today, Brunei LNG reached a milestone of half a century in operation last year, having been the first LNG export project to start up in the western Pacific in 1972. The facility is owned by a consortium comprising the sultanate’s governm