Three top companies - ExxonMobil, Occidental and Maersk - have been shortlisted for a massive onshore oilfield expansion project in Bahrain, which is expected to cost up to BD1.89 billion ($5 billion).

The project, which could double its oil output, will initially cost absolutely nothing as the country steps up oil exploration both on land and at sea, said Oil and Gas Affairs Minister Dr Abdulhussain Mirza.

Announcing details of the plan on Tuesday on the sidelines of the two-day Second Oil and Gas ICT (Information Communica-tion Technology) Summit, Dr Mirza said, "However, the contract winner will develop and renovate the oilfield for free - with a deal to be hammered out later depending on the success of the project."

He said it could lead to a 100 per cent increase in Bahrain's oil output, which now stands at 33,000 barrels per day (bpd).

"The winning company will foot the entire cost according to the terms of the agreement," said Dr Mirza, who is also the National Oil and Gas Authority chairman.

Speaking shortly after the conference opened at the Crowne Plaza's Bahrain Conference Centre, the minister also revealed that new technology could help increase Bahrain's gas production by 50 per cent.

"New technology is now being put in place which will increase our gas production from the present 1.2 billion cubic feet to nearly 2bn cubic feet per day," he said.

The GDN reported last month that Bahrain was also in talks with Iran to import an additional 1bn cubic feet a day of natural gas by pipeline to cope with increased demand, fuelled by massive infrastructure development.

Meanwhile, Dr Mirza said drilling at two of Bahrain's offshore oilfields, which began in February, was due to finish by the end of next February.

"This work, on wells three and four, is also being conducted by international companies at zero cost to Bahrain," he added.

"Only if oil is struck will we be involved and will work out a sharing agreement."

Preparations to begin drilling are also underway at a third offshore oilfield, while work at the fourth is due to start soon.

"The financial and economic affairs committee in parliament has approved the awarding of the contract to Occidental already," said the minister.

Dr Mirza also revealed that results of unsuccessful attempts to locate oil would be reanalysed using new technology, in the hope that they will help in the current search for new reserves.

"We are increasingly looking at new digital technology to drill deeper in our search for oil and gas than we have ever done before," he said.

"The reports that we have had from previous unsuccessful attempts will now be digitised so that we can see if we can get anywhere with them."

Resources

The minister said Bahrain was stepping up its efforts to find new energy resources to help the country's planners budget for the future, particularly after the announcement of Vision 2030 - which contains an economic plan for the next 22 years.

He said emphasis had also been placed on encouraging investment in new technology, which could in turn create jobs.

"This sector also acts as a medium for providing several promising opportunities for our citizens to assume responsibilities in the oil and gas sectors," he explained.-TradeArabia News Service