US Occidental signs deal to develop Bahrain oil field

ONSHORE OIL: The contract is to overhaul and develop Bahrain's Awali onshore field to boost output. (Getty Images)

US oil giant Occidental has signed a ‘billion dollar deal’ to develop and overhaul Bahrain’s Awali onshore oil field, it was reported on Monday.

Abdul Hussein Ali bin Mirza, the minister of oil and gas affairs and chairman of National Oil and Gas Authority, said the project would be operational by the end of the year, according to Saudi daily Arab News.

“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.

CEO of Occidental Ray Irani, signed the initial deal, and an interim agreement and framework between the Bahrain government and the company would now be would be ratified by parliament and Shoura, Mirza added.

Output at the field would be raised to 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) from about 35,000 bpd, according to estimates by officials.

The field, discovered in 1932, was the first oil find on the Arab side of the Gulf and will boost Bahrain’s oil output that is currently supported by 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

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