Brunei's energy minister has warned people of this cradle-to-grave welfare state to curb their "extravagant lifestyle" of wasting fuel and electricity, saying the country’s dwindling oil reserves will not last forever.
Energy Minister Yahya Begawan Mudim said the government expects to spend $144m on public subsidies this year to keep retail prices of petrol and diesel low, up from $106m in 2005. Because of such subsidies, the market price for diesel is cheaper than bottled drinking water, while low energy rates have made this tiny sultanate on Borneo island one of the highest per capita users of electricity in Asia.
Brunei's vast oil reserves were discovered more than a century ago and became a major export for this tiny country before World War II. Oil and natural gas account for nearly half of the nation's gross domestic product. But some experts say its proven oil reserves could run dry in around a decade.