Besar

Ownership and Operation

The project is owned and operated by Hengyi Industries, a joint venture between China’s Zhejiang Hengyi Group (70%) and Damai Holdings (30%), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Brunei Government’s Strategic Development Capital Fund.

Location

The refinery and petrochemical complex is situated on a 276-hectare site at Pulau Muara Besar, which is part of a 955-hectare industrial park on Muara Besar Island in Brunei Bay, near the capital city of Bandar Seri Begawan.

Project Phases

The project is being developed in two phases:

Phase One

• Commenced operations in November 2019 with an estimated investment of £2.76 billion ($3.45 billion).
• The refinery has a crude oil refining capacity of 175,000 barrels per day (eight million tonnes per year).
• Processing units include atmospheric and vacuum distillation, reforming, hydrocracking, monomeric aromatic hydrocarbon, diesel hydrotreating, jet fuel hydrotreating, flexicoking, sulfur recovery, and naphtha isomerisation units.
• Products produced include petrol, diesel, jet fuel, paraxylene (approximately 1.5 million tonnes per year), and benzene (approximately 500,000 tonnes per year).

Phase Two

• Involves an additional investment of approximately £10.6 billion ($13.654 billion).
• This phase will add new processing facilities to increase the oil refining capacity to 14 million tonnes per annum.
• It will also produce up to 2 million tonnes per annum of paraxylene, 2.5 million tonnes per annum of purified terephthalic acid, and 1 million tonnes per annum of polyethylene terephthalate.

Feedstock and Supply

• A portion of the crude oil and condensate used as feedstock is sourced locally, with the remainder imported. Brunei Shell Petroleum Co. signed a non-binding crude supply agreement to support the project.

Infrastructure and Facilities

• The project includes various infrastructure such as crude oil storage tanks (6 x 50,000 cubic meters and 8 x 100,000 cubic meters), refined product storage, and other supporting facilities.
• Contracts have been awarded to several companies, including Nanjing Chemical Construction for the tank farms, DuPont Clean Technologies for an alkylation unit, and Lummus Technology for a large-scale polypropylene unit.

Technological and Environmental Aspects

• The refinery incorporates advanced technologies such as diesel hydrogenation and sulfur recovery units.
• The alkylation unit, expected to start operations in 2023, will produce petrol with high octane, low sulfur, zero aromatics, and zero olefins.

Economic and Strategic Significance

• The project is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and is considered one of the biggest single foreign direct investments in Brunei.
• It plays a crucial role in Brunei’s efforts to develop its downstream sector and leverage its strategic location for the export of refined products.

Timeline

• The project received Royal consent in 2011.
• Front-end engineering design was undertaken by Sinopec Engineering.
• The first unit, the sulfur recovery unit, was completed in 2018.
• Phase one commenced operations in November 2019.
• Phase two is expected to be fully operational with additional capacities and products by the mid-2020s.

This project is a significant step in enhancing Brunei’s refining and petrochemical capabilities, aligning with the country’s economic development goals and its role in the regional energy landscape.