OREANDA-NEWS. October 27, 2010. The Gazprom headquarters hosted today a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee and Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza, Minister of Oil and Gas Affairs, Chairman of the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The meeting was also attended by Faisal Mohamed Hassan Al-Mahroos, Chief Executive Officer of the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO).

The meeting considered the prospects for bilateral cooperation in the energy sector. Special attention was paid to possible interaction between Gazprom and BAPCO within joint oil and gas projects.

Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza and Faisal Mohamed Hassan Al-Mahroos highlighted the growing gas demand in the Persian Gulf region that would stimulate further development of the regional gas infrastructure.

The Bahraini delegation also visited the key production unit of Gazprom – the Central Production and Dispatch Department.

Background

In 2009 Bahrain’s proven gas reserves amounted to 90 billion cubic meters with the prevalence of associated gas from the Awali field. The country annually produces and consumes 12.8 billion cubic meters of gas.

The Bahrain National Gas Company Banagas was incorporated in 1979. Banagas is 75 per cent owned by the Government of Bahrain, 12.5 per cent by the Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation (APIC) and 12.5 per cent by Caltex Bahrain (Chevron).

In 2009 Bahrain’s proven oil reserves amounted to 17 million tons. All of them are concentrated in the Awali field. In 2009 Bahrain’s oil and petrochemicals production totaled 1.9 million tons and 150  thousand tons respectively, with indigenous oil consumption of 1.7 million tons. In addition, Bahrain receives 7.5 million tons per annum from Saudi Arabia.

The state-owned Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) predominates in the national petroleum sector. The company deals with exploration, production, refining, marketing and distribution of oil and petroleum products.