The physical merger of Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) and Bahrain National Oil Company (Banoco) is due to begin in this week, according to reports.

The historic merger, which was approved nearly a year ago by the Supreme Oil Council, is to be completed in 15 months. However, certain aspects of the transformation will move quickly and will be in place by this summer, a report in the Gulf Daily News said.

Oil and Industry under-secretary and Bapco president and managing director Mohammed Saleh Shaikh Ali said the move would turn the company around completely. The new Bapco will be a modern, vertically-integrated firm with its hands on every segment of the oil industry, he stated.

The transition focuses on supply chain planning, equipment manufacturing and maintenance, information technology and human resources. KPMG Fakhro had been working with the mergers core committee for the past two months and that the team had just finalised the new corporate blueprint, said Ali.

He said the manufacturing and marketing integration process should run smoothly, and that there should be no production or disruption delays resulting from the integration. Ali said the UK-based KBC had nearly concluded its inventory and assessment of equipment maintenance, availability and manufacturing reliability.

Actual merger implementation procedures will begin on February 1. Ali admitted the integration would be stressful and sometimes arduous, but that every effort would be taken to ensure continuity and uninterrupted work flows.

He could not say whether the merger would result in job cuts in either of the companies, who combined, have 3,000 employees.

Ali was optimistic that solutions would be found to accommodate employee concerns and management objectives.

''We are not going about this using traditional methods. We are reviewing and analysing work processes rather than looking at staff reductions,'' Ali said.