Bahrain upbeat on upstream plans
Posted: 10 March 2008
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Bahrain will add a number of new wells in the next 15 years, a senior energy official said last week. The ambitious announcement is seen as a display of confidence to kick-start its renewed upstream commitment.
The small GCC-state, where the first oil field in the Gulf was developed, aims to encourage foreign investment in the upstream sector and to step up exploration and development efforts to meet growing energy demand.
Oil and Gas Affairs Minister and National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga) chairman Dr Abdulhussain Mirza unveiled the grand target set to boost the oil production of the oil-dependent country.
“In the coming 15 years we are planning to add another 700 wells to maintain and increase oil production,” Mirza told delegates at the opening of Eighth Middle East Geoscience Conference and Exhibition (GEO 2008).
“Many of the wells will be special architecture wells to maximise reservoir contact in order to improve well productivities.”
Unlike most GCC-countries, Bahrain imports about 225,000 bbpd of Arab Light crude oil from Saudi Arabia, for which it shares production via a subsea pipeline linking the two countries.
While Bahrain is an exporter of oil, it is the smallest Middle East oil producer by volume according EIA.
In 2006, Bahrain produced about 35,000 bbpd of crude oil. Its proven oil reserves stood at about 125 million barrels as of January 2007. Over the years, Bahrain has been slow to explore for oil in its offshore waters.
But Bahrain’s recent initiatives are expected to bring the kingdom’s energy production to a ‘golden era’ according to Mirza.
The oil ministry has recently signed an Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement with Thailand’s PTTEP, under which the company will be drilling two wells offshore in the Khuff formation while Occidental will operate Blocks 3 and 4 to drill three wells to the Arab Formation, while Block 1 will remain for future bidding.
Thailand’s PTTEP and US major Occidental were awarded exploration rights last year to explore three out of four Bahraini blocks hoping that the new contracts will bring a wave of oil discoveries after 75 years.
“With the right technology, business environment and people the energy challenges of the future are within our collective power to resolve. It is up to each of us to work towards making that happen,” Mirza said.
Further to Bahrain’s upstream commitment, Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) has signed an agreement with US ExxonMobil to carry out a technical analytical study on the ideal use of gas. It will also explore the kingdom’s present and future gas needs.
The study will assess local consumption, future demand on gas for power generation and water desalination as well as the Bahrain Oilfield gas needs for implementation of future projects, Bahrain’s state news agency reported.
It will also evaluate the main reasons behind the growing gas demand and propose ways of using energy, Bahrain News Agency (BNA) said.
It will take into account the available energy alternatives including imports from neighbouring states. Bahrain is in talks with Qatar to conclude an agreement in this regard. |
