BAHRAIN IS SEEKING to increase its oil production to 250,000 barrels per day over the next seven years, the Gulf nations oil and gas minister Abdul Hussein Mirza said recently. Bahrain currently pumps 33,000 barrels a day of oil from its own field, and plans to raise that to 100,000 barrels a day in seven years after an agreement last month with U.S. oil firm Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY) and Abu Dhabis Mubadala Development Co, Mirza said.
AS A GROUP, the six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) controls a sizable portion of proven oil reserves. Still, several GCC countries have contracts with international oil companies to explore for fresh oil reserves of commercial quantity.
GULF HYDROCARBON PROJECTS have topped US$690 billion, says a report by Dubai-based research house Proleads Global. A full 30 per cent of hydrocarbon projects by value have been put on hold or cancelled, it said. The report shows, however, that the GCC countries remain the most active construction markets in the world for the oil, gas and petrochemical industries
THE ABU DHABI National Oil Company (Adnoc) and its subsidiaries and several international petroleum companies operating in the emirate recently signed a charter pledging greater investments in sustainability particularly in health, safety and environment.
MUBADALA DEVELOPMENT COMPANY (Mubadala) and the National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga) have set up a new joint operating company. The Tatweer Petroleum-Bahrain Field Development Company (Tatweer Petroleum), will serve as the operator for the Bahrain Field. The company will operate under the development and production sharing agreement signed in April by the partners, including Occidental Petroleum, and approved by the Bahraini parliament in May.
