Bahrain Plans $350M Pipeline Upgrade

January 20, 2009
Manama, Bahrain

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia discussed plans Tuesday for the $350 million expansion and upgrade of a 70.8-mile oil pipeline between the two nations, officials said.

Abdul Karim al-Sayed, the chief executive with Bapco, the Bahraini petroleum firm, said during a Gulf conference on pipeline maintenance that upgrade plans to the infrastructure would conclude by the end of 2009, Trade Arabia reported.

"We expect the front end engineering for this project to be completed by the end of this year, and then we will have a more accurate figure for the investment, but it should be around the $350 million figure," he said.

Bapco officials said the expansion would permit transit increases from 235,000 barrels per day to 350,000 bpd, but cautioned that existing refineries may not be able to handle the volume.

The infrastructure upgrade is part of a plan to move toward a greener project.

"The existing pipeline has been very well maintained, but the new one will be more ecologically and socially friendly as it will be well away from built-up areas," he said.

Source: United Press International

For more information, please contact the Office of the Economic Representative via e-mail info@bahraingateway.org or by telephone at (202) 537-7810.