MANAMA: US oil giant Occidental yesterday signed a deal to develop and overhaul Bahrain’s Awali onshore oil field.
Abdul Hussein Ali bin Mirza, the minister of oil and gas affairs and chairman of National Oil and Gas Authority, said the project would involve billions of dollars investment and would be operational by the end of the year.
“Since the investment will be made by Occidental, we don’t have exact figures but it must be billions of dollars,” the minister told reporters after the signing ceremony held on the sidelines of the Middle East Oil and Gas Show (MEOS). The minister said the interim agreement and framework agreement with Occidental would be ratified by Parliament and Shoura.
The Occidental Chief Executive Ray Irani signed the initial deal, which officials said aimed to raise output at the field to 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) from about 35,000 bpd.
The field, discovered in 1932, was the first oil find on the Arab side of the Gulf.
Bahrain is a small oil producer. Aside from Awali, the country also receives about 150,000 bpd of crude from Saudi Arabia, its share of output from the Abu Saafa oil field.
Last year, Bahrain awarded a tender for offshore exploration to Occidental and Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production.
