meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

US closes deal to finance oil project in Bahrain

13 August 2024

Register for MEED's 14-day trial access 

Bahrain’s state-owned Bapco Energies has closed a deal to secure a $500m loan guarantee from the US Export-Import Bank (US Exim Bank) to develop the Bahrain Oil Field, which is also known as the Awali Field.

The financing will be used to fund the Bahrain Field expansion and development programme in the southern part of the country, Bapco said in a statement.

The medium-term development programme comprises several oil and gas projects that aim to maximise onshore oil and gas production as well as recovery, according to the company’s website.

The programme includes the drilling and commissioning of new gas wells and appraisal of the newly discovered resources.

In March, Exim Bank said the programme would include over 400 new oil wells and 30 gas wells.

Bapco Energies Group CEO Mark Thomas said his company was happy to partner with US Exim on the transaction.

He said: "This strategic partnership underscores our ability to source financing from world-class organisations like US Exim.

"As we are leading the energy transition in the Kingdom of Bahrain under the guidance of our Chairman His Highness Shaikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, His Majesty the King’s Representative for Humanitarian Works and Youth Affairs, Bapco Energies will continue to invest in enhancing the national energy infrastructure to meet future energy demands."

The US-based bank JP Morgan Chase acted as the mandated lead arranger and disbursement agent on the transaction, which was funded through the Private Export Funding Corporation (Pefco).

Pefco was created in 1970 to assist in the financing of US exports by supplementing the financing available from commercial banks and other lenders.

A rigorous feasibility study was conducted in line with US Exim’s environmental and social procedures before the funding was approved, the statement said.

The board of the US export credit agency voted to approve the $500m loan guarantee for the oil and gas drilling project in March.

At the time, it was viewed as a test of a US climate pledge to stop backing projects that expand the use of fossil fuels.

The board of directors at Exim Bank approved the project after voting in February to notify Congress about potentially supporting the expansion of the oil and gas field in Bahrain.

Democratic lawmakers opposed to the loan and environmental activists said that Exim's loan to Bapco Energies was out of step with the Biden administration's pledge to stop public financing of fossil fuel projects overseas.

The credit agency has said that the project includes measures intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Bapco signed on to the Cop28 Oil and Gas Decarbonisation Charter, which commits it to achieve net-zero operations by 2050 and end routine flaring by 2030.

In March, Exim president and chair Reta Jo Lewis said: “This transaction will support thousands of US jobs and play a crucial role in ensuring Bapco Energies is able to achieve its climate goals of enhanced grid interconnectivity, more efficiency, decarbonisation and investments in large-scale solar projects.”

Ahead of the vote to approve the loan guarantee, Democratic lawmakers pushed for its rejection in a letter to Exim’s board members.

The lawmakers, led by US Senator Jeff Merkley, said: “We urge you to take Exim's mandate to consider the environmental impacts of projects seriously, and to start by disapproving new funding for oil and gas drilling in Bahrain.”

The US was one of more than 30 countries that joined a pledge to end public financing of fossil fuel projects overseas at the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow in 2021.

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/12330832/main5804.jpg
Wil Crisp

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Egypt seeks consultant for major inland waterway study

    18 November 2025

    Egypt’s Transport Ministry has issued an expressions of interest (EOI) request, through the River Transport Authority, to appoint a consultancy firm for a study on a proposed inland waterway linking Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean.

    The consultant will carry out basin-wide data collection and prepare a strategic environmental and social assessment for the project.

    The assignment includes hydrological, topographic, bathymetric and geotechnical surveys across the Nile Basin.

    The consultancy is expected to run for about 15 months, starting in February or March 2026.

    Firms must submit EOIs by 6 December.

    The study forms part of the Vic-Med project, a multi-country plan to establish a continuous inland waterway from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean Sea.

    The masterplan project aims to reduce transport costs for landlocked countries and provide a lower-carbon alternative to road freight along the Nile corridor

    The work is part of phase two, part one of the feasibility study, funded through a $2m grant from the New Partnership for Africa's Development – Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility (NEPAD–IPPF), the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) fund for early-stage project development.

    The first phase, completed in July 2019 with $650,000 in AfDB funding, developed the project’s legal and institutional framework and launched two regional inland water transport programmes.

    The second phase, valued at $11.7m, covers updated feasibility studies and expanded technical assessments supporting detailed engineering design and cost-benefit analysis in the next stage. 

    This phase also covers the establishment of a regional operating unit for the project in Cairo.

    READ THE NOVEMBER 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Mena players up the ante in global LNG production race; Investment takes UAE non-oil economy from strength to strength; Project finance activity draws international lenders back to market

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the November 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15108707/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Kuwait to make decision on four oil pipeline packages

    18 November 2025

     

    Kuwait is evaluating bids on four packages for a major pipeline project after prices were submitted earlier this month, according to industry sources.

    The four separate packages cover pipeline work in the north, south, east and west regions of the country, sources said.

    Although the total of all bids submitted by Kuwait-based Alghanim International General Trading & Contracting is the lowest at KD419m ($1.4bn), the company submitted the lowest individual bid on only one package, located in northern Kuwait.

    Its bid for the north Kuwait package was KD149.8m ($488.3m).

    Mechanical Engineering & Construction Company submitted the lowest bids for pipeline work on two packages located in the south and east of the country. 

    Both of these bids were valued at KD97,868,394 ($319m).

    Al-Dar Engineering & Construction Company is the low bidder on the fourth package, for pipe work in western Kuwait, submitting a bid of KD64,825,398 ($211.3m).

    Together, all four contracts are expected to be worth about $1.4bn when awarded.

    The scope of all four packages focuses on developing new flowlines and connecting pipelines for oil-producing wells and water wells.

    In some cases, companies are also required to replace old flowlines.

    The contracts are based on work orders, so when KOC needs to connect wells it will issue a request for work execution, industry sources said. 

    Kuwait is trying to boost project activity in its upstream sector.

    The country’s national oil company, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, is aiming to increase oil production capacity to 4 million barrels a day (b/d) by 2035.

    In August, Kuwait announced that it was producing 3.2 million b/d.

    Earlier this month, KOC said it was planning to spend KD1.2bn ($3.92bn) on its exploration drilling programme through 2030.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15106496/main.png
    Wil Crisp
  • Indian firm wins Oman chemicals project EPC contract

    17 November 2025

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Indian contractor Nuberg EPC has won a contract to perform engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) works on a project to build chlor alkali and calcium chloride plants in Oman for privately-owned Al-Ghaith Chemical Industries.

    The project involves expanding Al-Ghaith’s existing chlor alkali plant in Sur Industrial City, by adding 120 tonnes a day (t/d) of capacity, taking the unit’s total output capacity to 190 t/d. The project also involves building a calcium chloride plant that will have a production capacity of 80 t/d.

    Nuberg EPC said the contract is being executed on a lump sum turnkey basis, with its scope covering design, front-end engineering and design (feed), detailed engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction, commissioning and handover.

    Project execution is already under way, with completion targeted within 19 months, Nuberg EPC said.

    The project marks the second phase of Al-Ghaith’s integrated chemicals complex in Sur and represents a first-of-its-kind large-scale chlor alkali expansion in Oman.

    Nuberg EPC also performed EPC works on the original chlor alkali plant, which has a capacity of 70 t/d.

    In addition to the Oman project, Al-Ghaith has, in the previous decade, also brought on board Nuberg EPC for its chlor alkali and calcium chloride plants in Abu Dhabi. Those contracts covered the commissioning of a 60 t/d chlor alkali plant that was later expanded to 120 t/d, and the execution of a 125 t/d calcium chloride plant and a 50 t/d carbon dioxide plant.

    Nuberg EPC has also executed the expansion of a 45 t/d chlor alkali plant and a greenfield 80 t/d calcium chloride plant for Oman Chlorine in Sohar, increasing the total chlor alkali output capacity to 75 t/d.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15104096/main5048.jpg
    Indrajit Sen
  • Egypt starts production from strategic gas field

    17 November 2025

    Egypt has started gas production from the West Burullus field in the Mediterranean Sea, after connecting the first wells to the national gas grid, according to a statement from the country’s Petroleum & Mineral Resources Ministry.

    Productivity testing showed an output rate approaching 45 million cubic feet a day (cf/d).

    Kareem Badawi, Egypt’s Petroleum & Mineral Resources Minister, said he intends to accelerate development of the field and confirmed that work is under way to connect two additional wells, with the aim of increasing production to 75 million cf/d in the coming months.

    He added that the ministry aims to cut the county’s gas import bill by boosting domestic production.

    The operator of the concession is Cheiron, an Egyptian independent exploration and production company.

    Egypt’s oil ministry said in its statement that the West Burullus field development project represents a model for future integrated projects and investment plans.

    It said that a range of domestic and foreign companies are involved in bringing the field into production.

    In February, a banking consortium led by Banque du Caire, alongside Arab International Bank, Al-Baraka Bank Egypt and Saib Bank, arranged $75m in syndicated medium-term financing for Cheiron Egypt Delta, a subsidiary of the Cheiron Group.

    This financing will help cover part of the investment costs for the gas field development project.

    At the time, Cheiron said that the financing will provide up to 45.5% of the total $165m investment required for the project.

    READ THE NOVEMBER 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Mena players up the ante in global LNG production race; Investment takes UAE non-oil economy from strength to strength; Project finance activity draws international lenders back to market

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the November 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15102295/main3406.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Major Iraq refinery project stalls

    17 November 2025

     

    Construction has yet to start on Iraq’s Al-Faw Investment Refinery project due to a range of problems, according to industry sources.

    In May last year, a statement released by the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office said that Iraq’s state-owned Southern Refineries Company and China National Chemical Engineering Company (CNCEC) had signed a contract to develop the project.

    Iraq’s Oil Ministry previously said the project would be worth $7bn-$8bn.

    One source said: “This project is failing to make progress despite the efforts of senior political figures in the country.”

    A meeting was chaired by Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani in August this year to discuss and try to resolve the problems that are stopping the commencement of construction, according to industry sources.

    It is believed that financing remains a key obstacle for the project.

    The Al-Faw project is part of the Iraqi government’s plan to increase Iraq’s refining capacities, attract foreign investment and increase the production of petroleum products domestically.

    The refinery will have a capacity of 300,000 barrels a day and will produce oil derivatives for both domestic and international markets.

    The project will be carried out in two stages.

    The first phase will involve refining operations, while the second will involve constructing a petrochemicals complex with a capacity of 3 million tonnes a year.

    The project also includes the construction of a 2,000MW power plant and the establishment of the Al-Faw Academy for Refinery Technology, to train 5,000 Iraqi workers that will eventually work at the facility.

    Hualu, a subsidiary of CNCEC, signed a preliminary principles agreement for the project in December 2021.

    At the time, Iraq’s Oil Ministry said that the project would have a value of $7bn-$8bn.

    Due to material price inflation since December 2021, some insiders believe that the project value may now be significantly higher.

    READ THE NOVEMBER 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Mena players up the ante in global LNG production race; Investment takes UAE non-oil economy from strength to strength; Project finance activity draws international lenders back to market

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the November 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/15102287/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp