Bahrain Petroleum Company, or Bapco, has completed initial feasibility studies for four to five projects worth $5 billion, Al Arabiya reported on its markets website. The projects, which include boosting the capacity of the Bahrain refinery to 350,000 barrels per day, from 250,000 barrels per day, are part of a new 10-year plan to boost the kingdom's production of oil and gas and increase income from the sector, Arabiya said, citing Bahrain's oil minister. The National Oil and Gas Authority” has prepared a masterplan to be implemented over ten years, including development and modernization projects, most notably the conversion of oil to high-value products,” Abdulhussain Mirza said, it said. Bapco's chief executive Abdel Karim Al-Sayed said the plan includes expanding and replacing oil pipelines linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, with the aim of increasing crude oil flowing from Saudi to 350,000 barrels per day from 235,000 barrels, the report said. The plan will also study the feasibility of refining at Bahrain's refinery oil jointly produced with Saudi Arabia at the Abu Safa field, instead of directly exporting crude oil, the report said. Initial studies on the projects will be completed by the end of this year or early next year, said Al-Sayed.
