Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah looks to Beijing for succor as his nation’s oil and gas reserves run dry
- Nile Bowie
- Asia Times
Brunei’s ruler, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, is in a race against time as his nation’s once deep stores of oil and gas rapidly run dry.
While other foreign investors up stakes, China is giving the Southeast Asian sultanate a new lease on economic life.
International banks such as HSBC and Citibank have recently ceased operations in Brunei in sight of its contracting oil and gas business, driven down by years of depressed global energy prices.
But one major…