About Bintulu

Bintulu Division is one of the eleven administrative divisions of Sarawak, east Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. It has a total area of 12,166.2 square kilometers, and is the third largest division after Kapit Division and Miri Division.

The population of Bintulu Division (year 2000 census) was 179,600. Ethnically, the population comprise Iban, Chinese, Malay, Melanau, Kayan, Kenyah and Punan. There is a large foreign worker involved in the timber and oil industry.

Bintulu Division consists of two districts: Bintulu, and Tatau.

The economy is largely based on the petroleum and natural gas industries. Bintulu has an estimated 85% of Sarawak’s known natural gas reserves, or some 42.3 trillion square cubic feet. In addition to export as liquefied natural gas, on-shore facilities produce fertilizer, and formaldehyde resins. Bintulu also has about half of Sarawak’s crude oil reserves of 0.8 billion barrels, with production wells located some 40 kilometers offshore.

Bintulu has around 27% of Sarawak’s tropical rainforest, and the timber industry remains a strong component of the Division economy. Agriculture, with oil palm, rattan and pepper the main products. Deposits of coal have been discovered, but are yet unexploited.