BAPCO, Bahrain’s national oil company, continues to develop and implement projects that set ever-higher standards of excellence in environmental stewardship to protect and preserve the kingdom’s ecological heritage for future generations.
Amongst them, the $151 million refinery gas desulphurisation project (RGDP) is one of the most significant environmental projects undertaken by Bapco. RGDP will reduce hydrogen sulphide in fuel gas to less than 150 parts per million (ppm) which is significantly less than the government’s environmental regulation limit of 600 ppm.
Inaugurated in May this year, the RGDP has led to the achievement of a significant milestone in Bapco’s history and is a major step towards the fulfilment of its vision to turn the refinery into one of the environmentally greenest and cleanest in the world.
The RGDP is a part of Bapco’s 10-year comprehensive environmental compliance programme, which was developed in year 2000 jointly with the General Directorate of Environment and Wildlife Protection.
The RGDP was implemented to further enhance ambient air quality through the use of cutting-edge technology to remove sulphur from refinery process gases and remove contaminants from water that is produced in the refining processes.
In addition to the improvement in air and water qualities, the project has been designed to very high standards of reliability, for example by providing, in many cases, two pieces of equipment where only one is required, to ensure that these improvements in air and water quality are achieved continuously even when these units are undergoing their scheduled maintenance shutdowns.
The other projects on the environmental compliance programme include the production of unleaded gasoline, an environmentally-friendly method of treating kerosene and jet fuel, hazardous solid waste management, a waste-water treatment plant, a sewage treatment plant and double-sealed tanks to minimise evaporative losses to atmosphere.
The year 2009 was notable for Bapco in terms of landmark agreements and progress on strategic investment projects which promise massive long-term economic rewards for Bahrain.
In April, a development and production sharing agreement (DPSA), joint operating agreement and shareholders agreement was signed between Bahrain’s National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga), Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) of the United States and Mubadala Development Company of the UAE for the Bahrain Field Phased Development Project (BFPDP).
In November a joint operating company, Tatweer Petroleum Company (Tatweer Petroleum) was formed to operate the onshore Bahrain field.
The BFPDP will leverage enhanced oil recovery techniques to revitalise oil and gas production, eventually tripling oil production capacity to more than 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) within seven years from approximately 35,000 bpd at present. Natural gas production will rise from 1,200 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) presently to more than 2,500 mmscfd. The project also seeks to increase the proven oil and gas reserves of the Bahrain field.
Following successful geological and geophysical studies, Oxy has entered the first exploration phase for blocks 3 and 4 and the company plans to spud a first exploratory well having signed a drilling contact with Nobel Drilling Services of the US.
Oxy also carried out a one-year geological and geophysical study on block 1 under an exploration and production sharing agreement (EPSA) effective April 2009.
The study included seismic data reprocessing, geochemical surveys and seismic sequence study.
The Petroleum Authority of Thailand Exploration and Production (PTTEP) has started the first exploration phase in Block 2 following geological, well log correlation, seismic sequence, basin modelling and geophysical studies, and 2D seismic data has been acquired to identify drillable prospects.
Manwhile, a new onshore block was identified in 2009 separate from the Bahrain Field and a new onshore block bid round is due to be launched and promoted this year.
