Bintulu is a coastal town, and the capital of Bintulu District (7,220.4 square kilometers) in the Bintulu Division of Sarawak, Borneo. It is about 650 kilometers from Kuching and about 215 kilometers from either Sibu or Miri.
'Commercial shipping' utilizing Miri as a port goes back to as early as when Miri was merely a fishing village. Being the site of the first discovery of oil in Borneo in 1910 quickened the business and pace and progress of Miri, establishing it an important and leading port for the majority of the 20th century in the region for oil and then timber industries.