Cabinet approves instituting Gulf Refining Union in Bahrain

The Cabinet approved on July 11, 2016 a proposal for the establishment of a Gulf Refining Union in the Kingdom of Bahrain and tasked the concerned governmental authorities to take necessary measures to implement it.

Minister of Oil His Excellency Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Khalifa expressed his gratitude to the leadership and the government for the Cabinet approval to establish the Union in Bahrain.

The Minister also expressed his appreciation to the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Interior Ministry for their encouraging efforts and cooperation in supporting with legal procedures in the matter. He praised the outstanding role played by the GCC oil industry for setting up the union and in globally promoting it so as to achieve the goals of their own companies. He thanked them for choosing the Kingdom of Bahrain as the headquarters of the union.

The Minister said that the formation of the union would have a positive impact on the region’s downstream industry and allow Bahrain to play a more active role in the global petrochemical sector. It will help the country expand its network as well as international relations, creating refining industry circles regionally and globally, in all corners of the world. He said the union would enhance Bahrain’s stature as a hub for advancing oil and gas sector through events and programs in training, technology transfer etc. It will promote international specialist conferences and exhibitions which will help develop investments and the economic environment in the country and raise the efficiency of Bahraini workforce, enriching to the country's inexhaustible human capital.

The establishment of the union came following the efforts and aspirations of the founder members of a number of GCC based oil companies, to promote the region’s refining industry, to facilitate closer and frequent interaction and knowledge sharing between research institutions, investment bodies and downstream industries and raise the efficiency of the professionals in this vital sector. The founders of the Gulf Refining Union from the GCC oil companies are: Mr. Omar Saleh Bazuhair - Saudi Aramco, Mr. Bakheet Al Rashidi - Kuwait Petroleum International, Mr. Mohammed Mansour Al Ajmi - Kuwait National Petroleum Company and Mr. Ebrahim Talib - Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco).

The union will hold a founding meeting in the next two months to finalise its administrative, financial and legal formalities.