Dubai: The small island-nation of Bahrain on Wednesday announced the discovery of 80 billion barrels of shale oil, its largest oil and gas find ever.
Bahrain’s oil minister and energy executives detailed the find at a press conference, saying the tight oil was discovered in the offshore Khalij Al-Bahrain Basin, which spans some 2,000 square kilometers (770 square miles) in shallow waters off the country’s western coast.
The field also contains an estimated 14 trillion cubic feet of gas.
Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said the amount of oil that can be extracted from the Khalij Al-Bahrain Basin is still being studied.
Still, the discovery dwarfs the onshore Bahrain oil field, which produces around 45,000 barrels per day. The non-OPEC country also produces close to 160,000 barrels of oil per day from an offshore field it shares with Saudi Arabia.
The minister announced a separate discovery of gas reserves below Bahrain’s main gas reservoir, with estimates that push deep gas reserves in the region to between 10 and 20 trillion cubic feet.
Experts and officials said they expect the newly discovered oil field to be ‘on production’ within five years.
Bahrain started pumping oil in 1932, becoming the first among its Arab Gulf neighbors to produce oil.
Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, is not a major oil producer, but the new finds have the potential to significantly raise the country’s profile and boost its economy, which has suffered blows in recent years from lower oil prices.
The country has introduced some austerity measures to limit spending and boost revenue, including reducing some fuel subsidies and increasing taxes. Like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, it introduced a 5 percent value-added tax this year to most goods and services.
Bahrain’s largest oil find estimated at 80 billion barrels
Bahrain’s largest oil find estimated at 80 billion barrels
- Bahrain’s Minister said the quantities of oil discovery may exceed 80 billion barrels
- The area of the new oil discovery is estimated at 2000 square kilometers
Closing Bell: Saudi main index slips to close at 11,228
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Tadawul All Share Index slipped on Sunday, lost 23.17 points, or 0.21 percent, to close at 11,228.64.
The total trading turnover of the benchmark index was SR2.99 billion ($797 million), as 170 of the stocks advanced and 82 retreated.
On the other hand, the Kingdom’s parallel market Nomu gained 449.38 points, or 1.90 percent, to close at 24,093.12. This comes as 43 of the stocks advanced while 27 retreated.
The MSCI Tadawul Index lost 6.07 points, or 0.40 percent, to close at 1,511.36.
The best-performing stock of the day was Obeikan Glass Co., whose share price surged 7.54 percent to SR27.66.
Other top performers included Alamar Foods Co., whose share price rose 6.80 percent to SR47.10, as well as Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Co., whose share price climbed 6.79 percent to SR5.66.
Saudi Investment Bank recorded the steepest drop, falling 3.21 percent to SR13.56.
Jahez International Co. for Information System Technology also saw its share price fall 3.15 percent to SR13.55.
Rabigh Refining and Petrochemical Co. declined 2.78 percent to SR7.34.
On the announcements front, Tanmiah Food Co. reported its annual financial results for the period ending Dec. 31. According to a Tadawul statement, the company recorded a net loss of SR18.8 million, compared with a net profit of SR95.8 million a year earlier.
The net loss was mainly due to ongoing market challenges that resulted in continued pricing pressures in fresh poultry, inflationary cost pressures, higher financing expenses, and depreciation and ramp-up costs from new facilities, partially offset by increased production volumes and cost-optimization initiatives.
Tanmiah Food Co. ended the session at SR58.20, up 3.72 percent.
United International Holding Co., also known as Tas’heel, announced its annual financial results for the period ending Dec. 31. A bourse filing showed the company recorded a net profit of SR273.64 million in 2025, up 23.05 percent from 2024, primarily driven by a 23.4 percent rise in revenues. The revenue growth helped lift gross profit by 23.7 percent.
Tas’heel ended the session at SR146.80, down 0.28 percent.
