GULF PETROCHEMICAL Industries Company (GPIC) has become a role model for other petrochemical companies in the region with it strategic planning and systems and able work force.

Its efforts in areas involving safety and health of its employees, training, as well as environmental protection have brought the company many awards.
Established on December 5, 1979, the GPIC is jointly owned by the government of Bahrain, Petrochemical Industries Company of Kuwait and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), by equal shareholdings.
The GPIC's first project was the construction of a petrochemical company in Sitra, on the northeastern coast of the Kingdom of Bahrain.
An area of 600,000 square metres of sea was reclaimed for construction of ammonia and methanol units with a daily output of 1,000 metric tones, in addition to power and utilities units. In 1989, the daily production capacity of the ammonia and methanol plants was raised to 1,200 metric tonnes.
A urea granular plant was inaugurated under the patronage of Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa on March 3, 1998, with a daily production of 1,700 metric tonnes.
GPIC produces ammonia from natural gas, which comes from deep in the ground where oil is found.
Urea is made by mixing liquid ammonia with carbon dioxide. A special process turns this liquid into round granules, which can then be shipped in bulk cargo containers or packed into polythene bags.
Over 17 years, the ammonia and methanol production achieved record levels of continuous operation, totaling 700 days, highlighting the efficiency of the company's plants operation staff and their skills and experience. The GPIC was selected as the best operating company in the Arabian Gulf region in 1996 for high production, better safety and environmental standards and quality assurance.
The company's major achievement was in 1995, when it obtained the ISO 9002 Quality Assurance Standard Certification in the manufacturing operations of ammonia and methanol.
Its urea manufacturing operations won quality certification in 1999, less than one year after the commissioning of the plant. This is considered a major achievement in a record period of time, for a plant of this size and nature.
The company is fully committed to complying with, and where possible, exceeding all national and international safety and health laws and regulations.
This approach has enabled it to achieve one million continuous employee work hours without lost time accident, during 1988,'91, '92, '94, '96, '97 and 1999.
In early 2000, GPIC was able to exceed two million continuous employee hours and 1.5 million continuous contractor work hours without suffering a singly lost time accident. This and other effective and recognised safety management initiatives have allowed the company to consistently earn certificates of merit from the National Safety Council (NSC-USA) and brought as many as eight accident prevention awards from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (Rospa), UK.
The GPIC gives top priority to training programmes.
It implements its technical, professional and management training plan for Bahrainis so that they can take up technical and management positions in the company.
Training is offered at all levels with members of the staff continuously involved in courses, seminars and conferences at the company's Training Centre, in Bahrain as well abroad to keep pace with the international development of the petrochemical industry. Bahrainis comprise 73 per cent of the company's staff.
In the environmental field, the company is making constant efforts to maintain the environment.
The design of the first phase of the GPIC complex (the ammonia and methanol plants and their utilities) are fully compliant with international environmental considerations.
 The two plants have been designed on the basis of minimising gaseous, liquid and solid pollutants.
The urea plant has been designed fully complies with the environmental laws.
For example, the latest urea granule manufacture technology, based on sealant layers, has been selected in preference to the granulation tower technology, despite higher cost. The purpose of this selection was to reduce urea dust from the urea granule manufacture unit.
For a more effective approach to environmental management, the company formed the Safety, Health and Environment Committee, a sub-committee affiliated to the main complex.
Shipment of urea granules to Australia on December 31, 2004, added yet another feather to the GPIC cap. The urea granules were loaded on to the 'MV Bunga Melor Empat' giant carrier from the GPIC urea shipping terminal in Sitra. That was the biggest shipment ever since the company was given a distinguished award from the Australian government.