Gulf Daily reported that Bahrain is now in talks with oil giant Saudi Aramco over plans to move ahead with constructing a new pipeline between the 2 countries.
Dr Abdulhussain Mirza chairman of Oil and Gas Affairs Minister and National Oil and Gas Authority said that discussions focused on what route the proposed pipeline would take to move crude from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain. We are now in discussions on the design and the route.
Dr Mirza said that only after the discussions are completed will a front end engineering and design contractor be appointed. The pipeline, expected to carry around 350,000 barrels per day of crude between the 2 countries, will replace the existing one that carries 230,000 barrels. He said that "What we are looking at is that the new pipeline will take a different route from the existing line and avoid crowded areas in Bahrain. It will help us meet rising local energy demand and utilize our resources better."
He added that Bahrain expects to steadily increase its own oil production and plans to reach 100,000 barrels per day in the next 20 years. The global economy has now started showing signs of recovery and oil prices are getting higher, which was a good sign. Noga has initiated some major steps in line with the government strategy to adapt to and meet the local and global requirements and challenges.
Dr Mirza said that "A development and production sharing agreement between Noga and JV of Oil and Gas Holding Company, Occidental Petroleum and Mubadala has been signed."
He said that using the latest enhanced oil recovery technology, the JV plans to operate over 8 drilling rigs and 8 work over rigs simultaneously with a program to drill over 3,600 new development wells in a 20 year period to increase the production capacity of the oilfield. At this point in time, seismic data has been obtained by Occidental and is being reviewed. Exploration and production staff is currently reviewing drilling options for Block 2 based on the new and old seismic survey data.
The minister said that the third important and vital initiative is the deep gas exploration program. After following a fully transparent and objective process we have bidders who wish to drill to a depth of over 15,000 feet in the search for gas in the pre Khuff zones. The bids are being evaluated and we hope to announce the successful bidder sometime before the end of 2009.
He said that these initiatives will require over USD 15 billion to be spent, which for Bahrain is quite a large sum. The Bapco refinery modernization program also involved an investment of USD 1.2 billion.
He added that "Our aim was to make our refinery one of the most competitive in the region with the latest technology and compliance with environmental regulations."
