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Bahrain In Push To Ramp Up Domestic Oil And Gas Production

Bahrain In Push To Ramp Up Domestic Oil And Gas Production

Bahrain, through its venture with Occidental and the UAE’s Mubadala, is looking to boost both oil and gas production by around 150% and 100% respectively over the coming 20 years, as part of a new drive to develop its hydrocarbon resources. Addressing the Middle East Petroleum and Gas Conference in Bahrain on 8 May Muhammad bin Khalifa, CEO of Nogaholding – the kingdom’s energy investment company – said the country’s onshore Bahrain field had “a lot of potential” for expansion after reservoir studies yielded promising results. “It’s certainly very encouraging,” Mr Khalifa said of the completed study. “It has significant remaining potential.”

Speaking at the same conference, Bahrain’s Minister of Oil and Gas Affairs 'Abd al-Husain 'Ali Mirza said his country had already outlined plans to invest $15bn in the upstream sector over the next two decades while also earmarking upwards of $6bn for the expansion of Bahrain’s Sitra refinery capacity to more than 400,000 b/d from its current capacity of near 260,000 b/d. State-controlled Bahrain Petroleum Company ( Bapco ) is yet to decide whether to recruit a partner for the development of its only refinery, but is expected to do so within the next 12 months, Bapco CEO Gordon Smith said.

According to the country’s National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) Bahrain produced an average of 42,510 b/d in 2011 from the Bahrain field, operated by Tatweer – a joint-venture between Nogaholding, Mubadala and Occidental Petroleum (Oxy). This made up around 22% of the country’s total output, with the remaining 147,771 b/d representing Bahrain’s share of production from the offshore Abu Sa'fa field, which is shared with Saudi Aramco (MEES , 26 March). Tatweer , Mr Khalifa said, is looking to raise output eventually to at least 100,000 b/d by drilling upward of 900 new wells, on which enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques such as steam injection or water-flooding would be used.

Gas production in Bahrain meanwhile has struggled to keep pace with soaring demand, with ministry officials saying on a number occasions that it was looking as far afield as Russia for supplies to meet short term demand. Mr Mirza explained that, while all options remain on the table, Tatweer was currently working towards hiking up its gas output capacity from 1.5bn cfd to around 2.7bn cfd by 2024 by tapping reserves in the deep pre-Khuff formations below the Bahrain field. In mid-March, Oxy was awarded a seven-year contract to explore for natural gas deposits in the kingdom. Exploration work is already underway, with the company planning to drill three wells in the first four years.

© Copyright MEES 2012.

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