According to Brunei’s Department of Economic Planning and Development (JPKE), the country’s economic growth is projected to increase at a modest rate of 1.6 per cent in 2012 (compared to 2.2 per cent in 2011) due to the expected contraction of its oil and gas sector. The chief contributing factor is the likely decline in the growth rates of two subsectors: oil and gas mining and liquefied natural gas (LNG). JPKE anticipates the growth of the oil and gas mining and LNG sectors to fall by 1.2 and 1.5 per cent, respectively. The lower production levels of average crude oil and LNG have been considered as the underlying assumptions for the projections.
