“Price volatility, coupled with a global fuel crisis, triggered a surge of orders for light crude oils. Brunei exported 105,000 barrels per day in April, the highest level in five years, according to Kpler, a Brussels-based data company that tracks commodity flows. The Star, a Malaysian newspaper, labeled Brunei one of the energy ‘winners’ of the Persian Gulf conflict.”
“Nearly 70 percent of Brunei’s April oil exports were shipped to Thailand. Refineries took advantage of the price flip in premium crude even as officials in Bangkok struggled to procure supplies from the United States and Brazil to ease the country’s fuel shortage. Thailand is heavily dependent on Middle Eastern oil, with 50 percent of its imports transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
“The Sultanate of Brunei Darussalam has a lot in common with the Persian Gulf monarchies, including substantial energy reserves, popular royals, and adherence to Islamic law. In early June, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah appointed his 34-year-old son to the post of foreign minister. The oil wealth is distributed across a population the size of a small city: the per capita GDP of about $36,000 is double that of neighboring Malaysia and comparable to incomes in Kuwait.”