Bahrain Petroleum Company B.S.C. (closed)
BAPCO REFINERY

Introduction

The Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) was formed in 1929, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Caltex Petroleum Corporation, a joint venture of Standard Oil Of California (now Chevron) and the Texas Company (now Texaco). Construction of a small 10,000 Barrel per day Refinery followed, with operations commencing in July 1936. The Refinery expanded over the years to its current capacity of over 267,000 barrels per day, storage facilities for more than 14 million barrels, supplying a range of petroleum products for local and export markets. The Bahrain Refinery is one of the largest in the Middle East and the oldest in the GCC.

Approximately one-sixth of its crude oil is obtained from wells in Bahrain, the balance being supplied from Saudi Arabia through undersea pipelines. Caltex retained a 40% share in the company following incorporation as a joint venture with the Bahrain government in 1981, and in April 1997 the Bahrain government assumed total ownership of the company. The Bahrain National Oil Company (BANOCO), which managed production and marketing assets and activities, was legally merged with BAPCO to form new Bapco on January 1, 2000. Thus, Bapco became an integrated petroleum firm engaged in the oil industry including exploration and prospecting for oil, drilling, production, refining, distribution of petroleum products and natural gas, sales and exports of crude oil and refined products.

Bahrain Refinery awarded ISO 9002 quality accreditation in 1994, and in November 2003 Bapco became the second refinery in the Middle East to receive OHSAS 18001 certification “Occupational Health and Safety Assessment”.

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