Bahrain expands refining capacity

Bahrain has long served as a model of stability and resiliency in the Gulf region, and despite the unrest, it has been successful in supporting the various industries towards growth and development.

Recent years saw Bahrain overhauling its oil and gas sector. In 2010 Bahrain's oil production rose by 24%, with production rates expected to move forward as the sector recovers and Bahrain Vision is implemented. Under Bahrain Vision, several projects have been lined up for implementation. 

Formally launched this month is a specialised carrier named after Bahrain. The Skaugen Gulf Petrochem Carriers was set up last year for the purpose of transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to fulfill the needs of the GCC petrochemical industry.  Such huge investment aims to support Bahrain's objective to become an oil and gas hub in the region. 

Bahrain has been expanding its 267,000 barrels per day oil refinery by 2018, as earlier announced by Energy Minister Dr. Abdulhussain Mirza. This is in accordance with the Refinery Master Plan Study that has been initiated to define the future refinery configuration by 2018. As part of the study, several options for raising refinery processing capacity to turn out higher value distillates have been identified.  Earlier, state-owned Bapco announced that the company will be ready by the first quarter of next year to finalise expansion plans to increase refining capacity to nearly half a million barrels per day with project cost set at around $6 billion. This is in line with the strategy to increase the country's crude oil production to 100,000 bpd by 2017 from the current 45,000 bpd, and this is still subject to the approval of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) board of directors which is expected in 2012.

With the target to raise refinery capacity comes the goal of energy conservation. Bahrain has taken energy conservation and environment protection as a national concern, as it aims to implement solutions to ensure sustainable operations.

Expanded manufacturing opportunities

The expansion in the oil and gas sector is expected to benefit a host of manufacturing activities in Bahrain. These include the automotive industry, petrochemical, chemical & plastics production and construction/building sector.One project was announced in October 2010 by BASF as it aimed to strengthen its presence in the Middle East and support its growing polymer industry. The company revealed plans for a production facility for customer-specific antioxidant blends (CSB) in Bahrain. The CSB plant will come in addition to the existing tolling agreement for CSB with Astra Polymer in the Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia, which is mainly supplying local customers. The facility is being constructed in the Bahrain International Investment Park. 

The CSB plant will produce key plastic additives used in the production of polymers.

The antioxidant blends plant will be a state-of-the-art facility and one of the largest of its kind in the world, the plant will have a capacity to produce 16,000 tonnes per annum and employ 50 people. The facility will serve the GCC market, which is considered as one of the fastest growing polyolefin resin polymer markets in the world.

Groundbreaking ceremony of the CSB plant was held in September 2011. This was attended by Mr. John Frijins, BASF's Senior Vice President of Plastic Additives Europe and Dr. Hassan Fakhro, Bahrain's Minister of Industry and Commerce.The plant is scheduled to be completed by July 2012. It will be commissioned at the end of the year and is expected to begin production in February 2013.

This project is a major investment for BASF following its acquisition of Ciba in 2009 andNike Air Jordan 1 Mens