The Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) is an integrated national
oil company of Bahrain.
The
BAPCO was established in 1929 in Canada by Standard Oil Company
of California for oil exploration activities in Bahrain. It took over
Bahrain's assets of Gulf Oil. In 1930 it obtained the only oil
concession in Bahrain. On 31 May 1932, the company discovered the [Awali]
oil field. In 1936 the Standard Oil Company of California signed an agreement
with Texaco, which acquired a half of BAPCO's shares.
In 1975
more than 60% BAPCO's shares was acquired by the Government of Bahrain. In
1980, all BAPCO's shares were taken over by the Government of Bahrain. In 1999
the current Bahrain Petroleum Company was created when the Bahrain
National Oil Company, established in 1976, merged with BAPCO.
BAPCO is an integrated oil company
operating in the field of exploration, drilling, production, refining, and
marketing. It operates a 260,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery which
lies midway between the original BAPCO expat workers accommodation township of
Awali and Sitra. The complex also includes storage
facilities for 14 million barrels (2.2×106 m3), a marketing terminal, and a marine terminal. About
one-sixth of this crude originates from Bahrain Field, with the
remainder being pumped from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco supplies
approximately 235,000 barrels per day (37,400 m3/d) through the 62-kilometre (39 mi) Abqaiq–Dhahran
Pipelines System. A new pipeline has been proposed to be constructed
from Aramco's Abqaiq Plant to Qurayyah utilising an existing
pipeline corridor, then offshore to Bahrain, and finally on a newly defined
route to the Bapco Refinery.
Established in 1929, Bapco pioneered the discovery of oil in the Arabian
peninsula being the first company to discover oil in the region in 1932. It
played a leading role heralding in a new economic era for Bahrain, moving it
from a pearling economy to an oil-based one. It soon became the largest
employer in the country bringing rapid modernization to the Kingdom.
More than eight decades later, Bapco is now a
regional oil and gas supplier and an important contributor to modern Bahrain’s
economy, accounting for a significant portion of Bahrain’s energy-related
activities.
The Company operates a 267,000 barrels per day
(BPD) refinery, storage facilities for 14 million barrels, a marketing terminal
and a marine terminal for its petroleum products. About 95% of Bapco’s refined
products are exported. The Company also produces high-quality liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG), gasoline, kerosene, and low sulfur diesel, which all form
the core of its business.
The Company is moving ahead with its most ambitious
plan to date, the Bapco Modernization Program (BMP), a US$4.2 billion flagship
project designed to expand and upgrade the refinery from 267,000 to 380,000
barrels per day. This will improve the refinery’s overall energy efficiency and
result in cleaner products that meet stricter environmental standards.
Once the BMP project is
completed, Bapco and the Kingdom of Bahrain will usher in a new era of
investment in new skills and technologies that will provide promise for
generations to come.
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