19 April 2017
Bahrain National Gas Expansion Company (Tawseah), which owns and operates one of the two associated gas processing facilities in Bahrain, recently announced the successful signing of a $515 million, eight-year syndicated financing facility.

The facility was raised to part finance the expansion of the company’s gas processing facilities which include a central gas processing (CGP) train with a capacity of 350 million standard cubic feet per day (MMSCFD); and pipeline and storage facilities at Sitra Wharf to cater for the enhanced capacity.

GIB Capital acted as the sole financial adviser to the company on the project. 

A closing ceremony to commemorate this milestone was held at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Bahrain last week. It was attended by Minister of Oil Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa, the chairman of nogaholding, and senior management of Tawseah, nogaholding, Noga and participant banks.

The gas processing plants are of strategic importance to Bahrain’s economy and are an integral part of national energy infrastructure. 

The gas processing plants extract Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) that are exported on one hand and on the other; the residue dry gas supplements the natural gas supply to power plants and other major industrial end users. The new plant will also play an important role in supporting Tatweer’s Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) plans.

JGC Corporation and JGC Gulf International were appointed as the engineering, procurement and construction contractors (EPC) for the project. The construction work of the project is expected to be completed in 34 months from the signing date of the CGP III EPC with commissioning expected by Q4 2018.

Al-Khalifa said: “This Tawseah expansion is another significant milestone for Bahrain in the energy sector. 

The project is among the many other National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga) and The Oil & Gas Holding Company (nogaholding) strategic projects aimed at securing continued economic growth in the country. I would like to thank and congratulate all the lenders for their valuable support in bringing this facility to a successful conclusion.”

The syndicated financing facility was widely distributed throughout the GCC and attracted interest from local and regional banks.

© Arab News 2017