Bahrain is reported to have discovered a new oil field containing up to 80 billion barrels of shale oil, much more than the current stock of this kingdom on the Arabian peninsula. According to two US companies, there are 560 billion cubic meters of natural gas in Khaleej Al Bahrain Bay.
Bahrain's Minister of Oil, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, said that it was not yet known how many oil could be obtained from the field. But it could have been enough to make the country on the world market an important player.
Officials in the country said that the acquisition of oil from a new source should begin within five years.
Before the discovery, Bahrain had proven reserves of crude oil for only 125 million barrels and also had 92 billion cubic meters of natural gas. By comparison, neighboring Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, has been certified for 266 billion barrels of oil reserves. Qatar, the largest exporter of liquefied gas, has a proven supply of 24 trillion cubic meters of natural gas.
In recent years, the Bahrain government has reacted to its relatively small oil reserves and declining oil prices by striving to diversify the economy to other sectors, such as financial services and tourism.
Sheikh Mohammed, at a press conference in Manama, said on Wednesday that the National Oil and Gas Administration wants to attract foreign companies to develop Khaleej Al Bahrain, which covers 2,000 square kilometers. With Halliburton, they reached an agreement for this year's drilling of two additional wells "to assess the potential of the reservoir, optimize the completion of research and start long-term production," he said.
Currently, Bahrain is producing about 50,000 oil barrels per day from the Bahrain oil field, which was discovered in 1932. In addition, it plans to add an additional 150,000 barrels a day from the Abu Saaf area, which it shares with Saudi Arabia.