The Middle East can expect an investment of around US$530 billion in the energy industries between 2012 and 2015, of which 60 per cent will be concentrated on the GCC countries, according to Bahrains energy minister
Speaking at the inauguration of Petrotech Bahrain 2012, Abdul Hussain Bin Ali Mirza said,
"[Despite] being one of the smaller countries in the region, [even] Bahrain will attract about $20 billion investment over the next 15 years.
"The world was spared a total and catastrophic economic collapse from the financial crises of 2008 by the new economic powers that are budding in Asia – namely China, India, and the Middle East.
"This development, with the center of gravity of economic activity moving to Asia, adds value to society. The lives of millions and millions in the emerging economies improved as a result," he remarked.
The technological advances that took place over the past few years in all areas of the energy value chain – from exploration and production, to refining to distribution of petroleum products – has been astonishing, he said.
"The industry estimates that over the period, the Middle East, in addition to its role of being the lead producer in the world, is becoming one of the fastest growing areas of demand. Demand in the region accounted for 6.6 per cent of world consumption in the year 2000. Today, it represents just over 9 per cent of world consumption," Ali Mirza pointed out.
Ali Mirza highlighted some of the advancements that took place in Bahrain's National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) companies. Bapco had deployed e-procurement by using 'cloud' technology to increase productivity. Tatweer Petroleum had converted data into information by using integration and system standards that have changed Bahrain's traditional oil field into a smart digital oil field.
The company had reversed the decline in production of oil by employing the advanced EOR technology which has resulted in an increase of 50 per cent in the production of domestic oil over the immediate pre-Tatweer period, Ali Mirza revealed.
"It very apparent that industry observers have concerns that the rate of refining capacity additions that are coming on stream worldwide is outpacing the expected growth rate in demand for refined products," the energy minister noted.
"This overcapacity might lead to tighter refinery margins which in turn would dry up investment in modernisation and new ventures."
