Oil reserves in Southeast Asia

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Oil reserves in Southeast Asia have a long history. The first reserve was found in 1883 on Sumatra by Dutch planter A.J. Zijiker. He followed clues from a local watchman and watched oil lighting a pond, then began drilling the Telega Tiga oil well. A year later, he started the Telega Tila oil well. These early efforts helped form Royal Dutch Shell and sparked Southeast Asia’s modern oil industry.

Offshore drilling began to grow after World War II, following the success of offshore projects in the Gulf of Mexico. Shell brought the first offshore rig to the Brunei coast in 1958, and Brunei later formed a joint venture owned by the Brunei government and Royal Dutch/Shell.

Today Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most active offshore regions. Growth has been driven by new technology, regional and Middle East politics, and Japan’s role in oil trade. The region produces about 2 million barrels of oil per day and around 500 million cubic feet of natural gas daily.

Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam are the main producers, but they expect to import more oil in the future as output declines and domestic demand rises. Indonesia became a net oil importer and left OPEC in 2008.