History of MIri

 Oil Discovery

The first oil well (the Grand Old Lady) was drilled by Shell in 1910, and is now a state monument and one of Miri's tourist attractions. Shell also built Malaysia's first oil rifenary in Lutong, a suburb of Miri, in 1914.

 World War 2

Realizing that war was imminent, the Brooke government, under Sir Charles Vyner Brooke, conducted preliminary work to establish airstrips at selected locations throughout the country. These airstrips would be located at Kuching, Oya, Mukah, Bintulu, and Miri.

With no air or sea forces stationed in or around Sarawak, the British government encouraged the Brooke regime to adopt a "scorched earth policy" in the event of a Japanese attack. Later, schemes were developed to destroy the oil installations at Miri and Lutong. The Brooke government learned of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (on 7 December 1941) and quickly ordered the total destruction of the oil fields and airfields at Miri and Seria. Orders for the demolition of the refinery at Lutong and the oil wells reached the officer commanding at Miri on the morning of 8 December, and by that evening, the task was completed. The garrison, a company of the 2/15 Punjab Regiment, then left for Kuching by sea on 14 December. The Japanese captured the city on 17 December.

for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miri