Arriving in the capital of Bandar Seri Begawan on Tuesday for his second trip to Asia in a week, the prime minister was officially welcomed on the tarmac before making his way to the Brunei Darussalam-Australia memorial to lay a wreath.
Mr Albanese is being accompanied by Foreign Minister Penny Wong for the overnight visit where he'll meet Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah on Wednesday to discuss fuel and food trade between both countries.
Brunei provides nine per cent of Australia's annual diesel imports as well as 11 per cent of annual crude oil imports and 11 per cent of annual fertiliser-grade urea imports.
The last Australian leader to travel to Brunei was Tony Abbott in 2013 to attend the East Asia Summit, but Mr Albanese is the first prime minister to be invited for a bi-lateral visit.
Following his talks with the Sultan, who has ruled Brunei since 1967 and is one of the world's richest people, Mr Albanese will fly to Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday to discuss fuel supplies with his Malaysian counterpart.
Swinburne University engineering expert Hussein Dia described the trip as part of regional "fuel diplomacy" efforts aimed at ensuring long-term supply.
"I don't think it's a sign of immediate shortage or to say 'give us priority', it's really to maintain flow," Professor Dia said, adding the government was likely "planning for a prolonged period of uncertainty".
"It just reinforces that we are good partners and we are coming just to seek reassurances and just build on this."
Australia is Brunei's largest trading partner and was one of its first diplomatic partners after the country's full resumption of independence in 1984.
But historic links date back to 1945 when Australian forces landed there as part of an allied campaign to liberate Borneo.
The Brunei Darussalam-Australia Memorial, where Mr Albanese will honour war dead, is dedicated to the 127 Australians who were killed and hundreds more who were wounded liberating Brunei and British North Borneo (now Malaysia) from Japanese occupation at the end of World War II.
