The Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) is an integrated

national oil company A national oil company (NOC) is an oil and gas company fully or in the majority-owned by a national government. According to the World Bank, NOCs accounted for 75% global oil production and controlled 90% of proven oil reserves in 2010. Due to the ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

History

The BAPCO was established in 1929 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

Standard Oil Company of California Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened to Socal or CalSo), it is headquartered in San ...

for oil exploration activities in Bahrain. It took over Bahrain's assets of

Gulf Oil Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth-largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the so-called Seven Sisters oil companies. Prior to its merger ...

. In 1930 it obtained the only oil concession in Bahrain. BAPCO discovered

first oil First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

in 1931. On 31 May 1932, the company discovered the Bahrain Field (Awali Field). After exporting oil and constructing a refinery, it started with refining capacity in 1936. Later that year the Standard Oil Company of California signed an agreement with Texaco, which acquired a half of BAPCO's shares. In 1975 more than 60% BAPCO's shares was acquired by the

Government of Bahrain The Cabinet of Bahrain is the chief executive body of the Kingdom of Bahrain. According to Article 32 (b) of the 2002 Constitution, "executive authority is vested in the King together with the Council of Ministers and Ministers". The Council of ...

. In 1980, all BAPCO's shares were taken over by the Government of Bahrain. In 1978 the oil sector was nationalized and BAPCO assumed full control of the national energy sector. In 1999, the current Bahrain Petroleum Company was created when the Bahrain National Oil Company, established in 1976, merged with BAPCO. In 2018 BAPCO commissioned a new pipeline that replaced the over 70 years old pipeline infrastructure between Bahrain and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

. In March 2019 construction work was started to upgrade the main oil refinery

Sitra Sitra ( ar, سترة or , ''As-Sitra''), also known as Sitrah ( ar, Jazīrat Sitrah, script=Latn) or Sitra Island ( ar, Jazīrat as-Sitra, script=Latn), is an island in Bahrain. It lies south of the capital, Manama, on Bahrain Island. History ...

. The $5 billion project will increase the capacity to . Currently Abdulrahman Jawahery serves as CEO of the BAPCO.

Operations

BAPCO is an integrated oil company operating in the field of refining, and marketing. It operates a

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into useful products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, asphalt, asphalt ...

which lies midway between the original BAPCO expat workers accommodation township of Awali and

. The complex also includes storage facilities for , a marketing terminal, and a marine terminal. 95% of the company's products are for exports. About one-sixth of this crude originates from the Bahrain Field, with the remainder being pumped from

Saudi Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ar, أرامكو السعودية '), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company) or simply Aramco, is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. , it is one of ...

supplies approximately through the pipeline from Aramco's Abqaiq Plant. Once the flagship

refinery A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refineries ar ...

's expansion is completed in 2023, its capacity will be increased from 267,000 bpd to 380,000 bpd.

References

External links

* {{Authority control National oil and gas companies Non-renewable resource companies established in 1929 Oil companies of Bahrain Energy companies established in 1929 Standard Oil