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Bahrain merges oil refining and production firms

MANAMA : State-owned oil refiner Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) said on Wednesday it had completed its merger with oil producing firm Bahrain National Oil Co (Banoco) into a single oil firm.

Bapco, which runs a 250,000-barrel per day (bpd) refinery, said in a statement that the merger with Banoco, responsible for domestic oil production and distribution, became effective on January 1.

Bapco became 100 percent owned by the Bahraini government after it acquired a 40 percent stake held by Caltex, the joint venture of Texaco Inc and Chevron Corp, in 1997.

The statement said a new oil firm, Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) had resulted from the merger.

Late last year Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa approved the establishment of the new firm to look after oil refining, production and distribution.

Bahrain, a samll oil exporter, produces around 40,000 bpd from its own oil fields and gets the entire output of 140,000 bpd from an offshore field it shares with Saudi Arabia.

The island also receives around 200,000 bpd of Saudi crude for refining.-Reuters