The highlight of Bapco’s achievements in 2011 was the opening of the $430-million lube base oil plant, a joint venture between Bapco, Noga and Neste of Finland producing Group III, Very High Viscosity Index (VHVI) lubricant base oils

As One of its strategic goals for the future, Bapco aims at diversifying its product range and produce higher value products at its refinery. In order to remain competitive and improve its operating margins this approach is essential. The newly commissioned hydrocracker at the low sulphur diesel production (LSDP) complex offered one such opportunity. The ultra-low sulphur unconverted oil from the hydrocracker bottoms is an excellent feedstock for the manufacture of high value lubricant base oils.

The company’s outstanding occupation safety record has received international recognition with the presentation of safety awards from the Gas Processors Association of the USA and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents in the UK

Banagas has achieved a record rate of seven million man hours without a lost-time accident. The company’s outstanding occupation safety record has received international recognition with the presentation of safety awards from the Gas Processors Association of the USA and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents in the UK.

The company continues to serve Bahrain with the successful commissioning of expanded aviation fuelling facilities at Bahrain International Airport

Bahrain Aviation Fuelling Company (Bafco) continues to play an important role at Bahrain International Airport, as the airport undertakes its expansion plans to meet the period of growth expected in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The company has expanded its engineering capability to undertake projects on EPC basis and has therefore formed joint ventures with Metix, South Africa

ALAA International Contracting Company (AICCO), the construction arm of the AFI Group, has awarded Honeywell the process control system (PCS) contract at Saudi Aramco’s Yanbu Refinery. The contract signing ceremony was held at AICCO head office in Dammam. It was attended by AICCO president, Abdulfattah Al Kahla and Honeywell country manager Mohammed Moosa. This partnership will provide more focus and a strong collaboration of ideas to develop a more productive and positive result, says an AICCO spokesman. AICCO is confident of Honeywell capabilities in terms of quality of work, professionalism and reliability, he says.

Cook Compression in Abu Dhabi provides technical support and supplies a comprehensive range of compressor components

Specialist manufacturer of compressor components, Cook Compression’s new reciprocating compressor repair facility focusing on valves and packings is now up and running at the Mussafah Industrial Area, Abu Dhabi.

Bahrain’s rising gas output has struggled to keep up with the demand for gas for power generation and heavy industry, forcing it to look further afield for its future gas needs

Bahrain plans to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia from 2015, as supply talks with Iran and Qatar stall, Bahrain’s energy minister said during a cabinet meeting. 

IES began operations in Saudi Arabia in 2007 and now has a broad portfolio of trade exhibitions in key sectors

ES has gained a reputation for organising high quality international trade events in established, as well as the world’s new emerging market economies, since 1982, and provides a wide range of expertise and exhibition backup resources.

John Crane’s aim is to be recognised and acknowledged by its customers as the premier provider of engineered solutions for the process and energy services industries

For John Crane, a world-leading provider of engineered products and services for the major process industries, including oil and gas, power, chemical, pharmaceutical, and other general industries, the Middle East region is a very significant and evolving market.

Gedik Casting and Valve, the owner of Termo, has started to produce new valves in accordance with API (American Petroleum Institute) 6D norms

Termo is Turkey’s most established valve brand known for its high quality and wide range of products. As the pioneer of new technologies in the local market for 45 years, Gedik Casting and Valve, the owner of Termo brand, exports about 40 per cent of its total production all around the world.

It is true that there is integration among the Gulf States in the petrochemical industry, but there is no competition among the Gulf States as they account for only 10 per cent of the world petrochemical production, says GPIC chairman Sheikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa

Bahrain-based Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC) plans to set up additional ammonia and urea plants with an annual capacity of 1.5 million metric tonnes at a cost of $1.5 billion.

Throughout the year, the company’s three main products namely ammonia, urea and methanol were produced to the highest levels of quality, and were exported across global markets, including the US and Latin America, Australia, China, India and Singapore

During 2011, GPIC had exceeded all the production targets set by the board of directors. They include the highest-ever monthly average daily production of 1,967.5 tonnes of urea recorded during February 2011; while also maintaining the highest daily average production for urea plant at 1845.7 tonnes throughout the year.

The company was able to win the award outperforming the approximately 5,000 major international companies, which is an unprecedented achievement in the chemicals sector. In the past 11 years, the company had won 10 awards

PIC has achieved a record number of working hours without any accident that waste time of the company, which is equivalent to 4,413 days of work, and this achievement is the highest in the history of the company since its founding.

Bapco’s new CEO Gordon Smith has his work cut out as he navigates the national oil company through its pace-setting and challenging refinery upgrade programme, which will boost the capacity of the plant to 450,000 bpd at a cost of about $6 billion

Gordon Smith, the new chief executive of Bapco succeeded Faisal Al Mahroos on January 1, 2012 and already is making his mark in Bahrain. With a background of extensive oil industry management experience at Chevron, Smith has led many successful turnarounds, plant commissioning and refinery upgrades around the world.

Bahrain is pursuing a multi-pronged approach to increase gas production including onshore exploration in the Awali field; enhancement of the existing field; purchasing gas from Qatar; acquiring gas from Iran and Iranian gas through a three-way deal with Gazprom

Bahrain has a larger strategic goal than just meeting the growing demand for gas, and would like to develop Bahrain as a regional gas hub along with petrochemical industrial complex similar to the one in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, says Banagas chief executive Dr Sheikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.

During 2012, Tatweer’s drilling activity will continue to increase with more than 200 wells planned. These will be a combination of new oil production wells in addition to a significant number of injection wells, says Tatweer Petroleum CEO Ed Hanley

Tatweer Petroleum, a joint venture operating company between Noga (National Oil & Gas Authority), Occidental Petroleum Corporation and Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala), has significantly improved production from the Bahrain Field during 2011 using advanced recovery techniques.

Tatweer is committed to providing employment and career opportunities for Bahraini nationals, who currently account for 62 per cent of the total workforce; this is planned to rise to 90 per cent over the coming years, says Adel Almoayyed, deputy CEO, Tatweer

Tatweer Petroleum, a joint venture operating company between Noga (National Oil & Gas Authority), Occidental Petroleum Corporation and Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala), has succeeded in vitalising the Bahrain economy through its substantial investment in redeveloping the Bahrain oilfield.

Saudi Aramco Shell Refinery Company (Sasref) was Shell’s first major investment in Saudi Arabia, and is located in Al Jubail, on the east coast of the kingdom. Sasref is a 50-50 joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Shell

Shell has been present in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for more than 60 years and has investments with partners in the kingdom in excess of $8 billion. These investments have been over the years in the blending, sales and marketing of Shell-branded lubricants and the sale of aviation fuel, refining, petrochemicals, and in exploration.

Since starting as a dedicated offshore division, AOS has gone from strength to strength and has emerged as one of the region’s leading repairers of jack-up rigs

The development of Asry into one of the region’s leading ship repairers and providers of marine services is now into its fourth decade. A world leader in the repair and maintenance of all types of ships as well as offshore rigs and craft, Asry provides complete range of services.

The new IMO PSPC standard against the corrosive effects of crude oil for cargo oil tanks (COT) will go into effect January 2013

Jotun has successfully completed testing of coating systems consistent with the new IMO PSPC rules for cargo oil tanks (COT), scheduled to come into force next year .