Rasau is an area in

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 ...

. The area contains one of the two

oil field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

s of Brunei, the Rasau Field,About BSP – History of Oil and Gas
– retrieved 18-04-2007 and a small village, Kampong Rasau, which has a population of 103.
– retrieved 17-04-2007

Location

Rasau is located in the Belait district on the west bank of the

Belait River The Belait River ( ms, Sungai Belait) is a river in Belait District, Brunei. It is the longest of the four main rivers in the country. History During World War II from 1941 onwards, the whole of Brunei was under Japanese occupation until 19 ...

south of Kampong Sungai Teraban, close to the district capital of

Kuala Belait Kuala Belait (KB; Jawi: ) is the administrative town of Belait District, Brunei. The population of the town proper was 4,259 in 2016. Kuala Belait is officially a municipal area (), as well as a village under the mukim of the same name. The t ...

. It is one of the villages in

Mukim Kuala Belait Mukim Kuala Belait is a mukims of Brunei, mukim in Belait District, Brunei. The population was 31,308 in 2016. The mukim encompasses Kuala Belait, the administrative town of the district. Geography The mukim is the located in the westernmost p ...

. It is located at 114°11′E longitude and 4°34′N latitude. To the north lies Kampong Sungai Teraban. The

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n state of

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

lies to the west and south with the Asam Paya oil field to the southwest. Across the Belait River to the east lies the southern portion of Kuala Belait and Kampong Sungai Duhon.

History

Rasau was historically one of the first stops on the Belait River upriver from Kuala Belait towards the former district administrative capital of

Kuala Balai Mukim Kuala Balai is a mukim in Belait District, Brunei. The population was 31 in 2016. Geography The mukim borders Mukim Seria to the north, Mukim Labi to the east and south, the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the west and Mukim Kuala Belait ...

. It was founded further inland from the mouth of the Belait River and Kuala Belait for protection against pirates. A timber jetty used to exist in the area in 1930. Moreover latter that year, British Malayan Petroleum Company constructed a telephone line along the Kuala Belait Beach which linked up Seria and Rasau with their main headquarters in Kuala Belait. Commercial hydrocarbons were first discovered in Rasau in 1979, and production began in 1983. A blowout of one of the wells in the Rasau Field, Rasau-17 occurred in April 1989. The resulting fire lasted from 25 April to 8 May when it was finally extinguished. Rasau gained prominence in the latter half of the 20th century when a bridge was built across the Belait River providing a route to

Miri ) , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = , subdivision_type2 = Division , subdivision_name2 ...

in Sarawak, Malaysia without the need for any ferry crossings across the Belait River. However, the bridge was not opened until after a family of Malaysians drowned at the ferry point during heavy rain.

Population

Kampong Rasau

The small village of Kampong Rasau is located to the south of the Rasau Bridge. It has a population of 103, and is situated further upriver from Kuala Belait towards Kuala Balai. This was formerly a village of

hunter-gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

s and

fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreat ...

. The modern day Kampong Rasau serves as a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

of the nearby Kuala Belait. Villagers residing in Kampong Rasau can obtain a special permit to waive toll payment across the Rasau Bridge. This allows the villagers to conveniently travel across the Belait River for employment opportunities. A shipyard, on the opposite bank from the Port of Kuala Belait at Kampong Sungai Duhon in Rasau, is a major source of employment for the people from the village and the greater Kuala Belait area.

Economy

Oil and gas

Rasau is dominated by the Rasau Field which is one of the two onshore oil fields in Brunei. The field is operated by Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) and was discovered in 1979, although production from the field did not start until 1983. Most of the wells are located between the highway linking the Rasau Bridge to

Sungai Tujoh Sungai Tujoh ( Abbrev: '), is the westernmost point of Brunei. It is located in the Belait district.Kampong Pandan. The Rasau Production Station is located in the Rasau area. Pipelines connect it to the tank farms in Seria via Mumong, and to the Refinery of Seria, via Kuala Belait. Hydrocarbons from Malaysia's Asam Paya field in Sarawak, across the border from Rasau is piped into Rasau. The well Rasau 5 had a depth of 9,000 ft.

Transportation

Road

The main highway from

Bandar Seri Begawan Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB; Jawi: بندر سري بڬاوان; ) is the capital city of Brunei. It is officially a municipal area () with an area of and an estimated population of 100,700 as of 2007. It is part of Brunei-Muara District, the sm ...

to the Malaysian border passes through Rasau.National Development Plan
of Brunei Darussalam. Government site retrieved 19-04-2007. The road is a single carriageway and it is surfaced. It connects the Seria Bypass and the Rasau Bridge to the 11 km road between Kampong Sungai Teraban and Sungai Tujoh. The Rasau Bridge across the Belait River is a toll bridge. The tolls ranges from B$3 for a passenger car to over $20 for a commercial long vehicle. An unsurfaced road connects the village of Kampong Rasau to the Rasau bridge.

Water

A "water taxi" can be hired at the public wharf close to the Kuala Belait market to go upriver towards Kampong Rasau and Kuala Balai.

Air

Commercial travellers would have to travel to either

Brunei International Airport Brunei International Airport (BIA) ( Malay: ''Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Brunei''; Jawi: لاڤڠن تربڠ انتارابڠسا بروني ) is the primary and only airport in the sovereign nation of Brunei Darussalam, on the island of Bor ...

or Miri's Airport to catch a commercial flight. The

Anduki Airfield Anduki Airfield () is a domestic airfield and heliport located in Seria, a town in the Belait District of Brunei Darussalam. It is operated by Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP), and uses Sikorsky S-92 and AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters in suppor ...

in Belait District is the nearest private

heliport A heliport is a small airport suitable for use by helicopters and some other vertical lift aircraft. Designated heliports typically contain one or more touchdown and liftoff areas and may also have limited facilities such as fuel or hangars. I ...

owned by BSP.

References

{{Reflist Belait District Populated places in Brunei Oil fields in Brunei Lists of oil and natural gas fields Peak oil