New Saudi Oil Pipeline to Boost Bahrain's Refining Capacity

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--A new Saudi Arabian pipeline has just won approval to carry 350,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The increase in the volume of oil delivered to Bahrain will enable Bahrain Petroleum Company's (Bapco) (Manama) 267,000-BBL/d Sitra refinery to expand its processing capacity to 460,000 BBL/d by 2018.

Saudi Arabia has been delivering oil to Bahrain for more than 60 years, through 60 kilometers of pipeline. The new pipeline will have a length of 115 kilometers, 74 kilometers of which will run overland on the seabed of the Persian Gulf.

An engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) tender for the project is being prepared by Bapco and Saudi Arabia; it is set to be issued in the fourth quarter of 2013. Contracts for the project are expected to be awarded by the second quarter of 2014, and the pipeline is scheduled to be commissioned by the third quarter of 2016, replacing the current 230,000- to 267,000-BBL/d pipeline. The estimated investment in the project will exceed $350 million.

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