National Oil and Gas Authority issues Annual Report 2015

National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) issued its Annual Report for the year 2015 in Arabic and English, the 10^th publication after the issuance of Royal Decree No. (63) for the establishment of NOGA.

On this occasion, Minister of Energy His Excellency Dr. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza issued a statement in which he said that 2015 marked the implementation of several strategic oil projects and signing of oil agreements following NOGA’s investment agenda, the most important project being the US $ 650 million Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project, a major project which aims to deal with imported gas operations. Another key project implementation was the and US $ 350 million new oil pipeline between the Kingdom of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, a 115 kilometer line with 41 kilometers underwater and 74 kilometers on land. Another important project was the gas compression unit, a $100m project at Tatweer Petroleum, which aims to meet domestic demand for gas. A gas supply agreement was also signed between NOGA and Alba, which is one of the biggest agreements for gas supply since the founding of NOGA - the historical project resulted in Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) adding a sixth production line.

The year 2015 witnessed a slight improvement in oil and gas production from Bahrain Field which amounted to 18.462 million barrels, compared with 17.805 million barrels in 2014. The quantity of, oil imports from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia increased and reached 78.711 million barrels, compared with 76.015 million barrels in 2014 . At the Abu Safa field, Gas production, meanwhile, was 751.615 billion cubic feet compared with 728.425bn cubic feet in 2014.

The Minister said the year 2015 has witnessed a number of oil conferences and other international events in the Kingdom of Bahrain in various disciplines, with 15 major events, higher success as compared to previous years. He said the most important oil event to be held in Bahrain in 2015 was the Middle East Oil and Gas Show 2015, held under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa from March 8 to 11, 2015 at the Bahrain international Exhibition Centre as well as Middle East Process Engineering Conference (Mepec), also Patronised by His Royal Highness the Prime Minister from September 15 to 17, 2015.

The Minister said he was delighted that the report also covered international cooperation by NOGA, the foremost being the 34th Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Petroleum Ministers Meeting and the 95th Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) Ministers Meeting, which was held in Cairo in December 2015, which approved the organization's budget and discussed many strategic issues concerning its functioning. The report also touched on the development programs witnessed by NOGA during 2015, foremost of which is the launch of ‘Fuel Safely’ campaign which aimed to raise the safety and security level promoting safety measures to be practised at refuelling stations in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The campaign aimed to raise the safety and security level at refuelling stations and a commitment to adhere to global safety standards through fuel stations. Another achievement was the launch of a NOGA YouTube streaming, acknowledging the importance of the social media in disseminating knowledge, relevant information, and other updates.

H.E. Dr. Mirza concluded his statement underlining the NOGA achievements during 2015 and those of the previous years to support and assist the esteemed government, diligently working in the oil and gas sector and the efforts put in by the top officials of the authority and their contribution in order to improve the sector to advance national economy.

The report contains six chapters representing oil statistics, oil projects and agreements, international cooperation, conferences, exhibitions and events held in the year 2015, international cooperation, legislation and administrative modernization. The report gives the overall achievements of NOGA during 2015, which reflect its development role and leadership in advancing the oil, gas and energy sector in the economic development process witnessed by the Kingdom of Bahrain under its wise leadership.