The Billionth Barrel Monument is a monument located in

Seria Seria () is a town in Belait District, Brunei, about west from the country's capital Bandar Seri Begawan. The total population was 3,625 in 2016. It was where oil was first struck in Brunei in 1929 and has since become a centre for the countr ...

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

History

The monument was built in 1991. It was commemorated by

Sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

Hassanal Bolkiah Hassanal Bolkiah ibni Omar Ali Saifuddien III ( Jawi: ; born 15 July 1946) is the 29th and current Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei since 1967 and the Prime Minister of Brunei since independence from the United Kingdom in 1984. He is one ...

on 18 July 1991. The monument commemorates the production of the billionth

barrel of oil A barrel is one of several units of volume applied in various contexts; there are dry barrels, fluid barrels (such as the U.K. beer barrel and U.S. beer barrel), oil barrels, and so forth. For historical reasons the volumes of some barrel units ...

produced in the onshore oil field in Seria.

Location

The monument is located near the S-1, the first well discovered in

Seria oil field Seria oil field also known as Seria Field is the largest oil field in northwest Borneo, discovered in 1929. The oil is accumulated in Upper Miocene sandstone, trapped in Seria Anticline that straddles the present day coastline. This field has prod ...

. The well was discovered by

Brunei Shell Petroleum Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

in 1929. The monument is located 38 meters from S-1, which is now located on the beach. The only marker that remains of S-1 is a corroded steel bar.

Design

On an elevated square, there are five pipes that form an arch structure that is crowned by a gilded

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

. The five pipes are reminiscent of the

Five Pillars of Islam The Five Pillars of Islam (' ; also ' "pillars of the religion") are fundamental practices in Islam, considered to be obligatory acts of worship for all Muslims. They are summarized in the famous hadith of Gabriel. The Sunni and Shia agree on ...

and the floor tiles are designed according to Islamic models. The monument was designed by a local architect.

References

Belait District Monuments and memorials in Brunei Buildings and structures completed in 1991 1991 establishments in Brunei {{petroleum-stub