Bahrain announced on Wednesday the size of the oil reserves in the giant discovery that it had made, and figures dwarf the proved reserves that the island kingdom in the Persian Gulf had prior to the latest oil find.

The huge discovery in west Bahrain, named Khalij Al-Bahrain Basin, is estimated to hold more than 80 billion barrels of oil, Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa said at a press conference today. The volume of natural gas at the field is estimated to be between 10 trillion and 20 trillion cubic feet, AFP quoted the minister as saying on Wednesday.

Bahrain announced a few days ago the biggest crude oil discovery in its history that will “dwarf” its current reserves, and details on the size of the reserves were expected to be released later this week.

Before the latest oil discovery, Bahrain was estimated to have proved reserves of just 125 million barrels of crude.

International oil companies are currently helping Bahrain to carry out appraisal studies at the new discovery, and to quantify how much of the oil and gas in place can be extracted, Al-Khalifa said.

Oil extraction from the field is not expected to begin for at least five years, according to Yahya al-Ansari, manager of exploration at national oil firm Bahrain Petroleum Company. Related: Houthi Missile Hits Saudi Oil Tanker

Bahrain is the smallest oil producer in the Persian Gulf, drawing its oil from the Bahrain Field at a rate of 45,000 bpd, and from the Abu Safah field that it shares with Saudi Arabia, which produces around 300,000 bpd. Bahrain’s daily total, including oil from Abu Safah, averages around 210,000 barrels.

Under a bilateral agreement from 1958, the two countries share the revenues from the field, but Aramco is the operator. Bahrain, for its part, refines its share at its single Sitra refinery before selling the production.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:</s>April 4 (UPI) -- An oil and gas discovery announced during the weekend off the coast of Bahrain could hold at least 80 billion barrels, the government announced Wednesday.

Bahraini Oil Minister Mohamed bin Khalifa al-Khalifa announced during the weekend that a "substantial" oil and natural gas discovery was made off the nation's west coast. The new resource is forecast to contain highly significant quantities of tight oil and deep gas, understood to "dwarf" Bahrain's current reserves.

According to the CIA World Factbook, Bahrain holds 124.6 million barrels of oil reserves, which ranks 27th in the world. The state-run oil and gas authority said Wednesday the discovery holds at least 80 billion barrels of oil.

Bahraini Oil Minister Mohammed bin Khalifa al-Khalifa said the find was highly significant and could contain an additional 20 trillion cubic feet in natural gas reserves.

"Agreement has been reached with Halliburton to commence drilling on two further appraisal wells in 2018, to further evaluate reservoir potential, optimize completions, and initiate long-term production," he was quoted by the official Bahrain News Agency as saying.

Halliburton had no public comment on the announcement. The government said it planned to start drilling into the prospects by August.

First oil from the Bahrain oil field came in 1932 at a rate of 9,500 barrels of oil per day. At its peak in 1970, capacity was around 79,000 barrels per day.

Total production from Bahrain, which isn't a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, is around 200,000 barrels per day. Output from the Bahrain oil field started to decline about a decade ago and most of the offshore oil comes from the Abu Saafa field, which yields around 150,000 barrels per day.

The discovery, Khalij al-Bahrain, could be put into production within the next five years.</s>Bahrain on Wednesday announced its newly discovered shale oil reserve was estimated to contain more than 80 billion barrels, making the once-marginal oil producer potentially a major player in the market.

The amount of recoverable oil -- or oil that can be extracted -- is still under study, Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa told a press conference in Manama.

The new field dwarfs the Bahrain Field, the country's only other oil field, which contains several hundred million barrels.

The small Gulf state currently produces some 50,000 barrels per day of crude oil from the Bahrain Field, discovered in 1932.

Manama also gets another 150,000 barrels daily from the Abu Saafa offshore field it shares equally with giant neighbour and oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia.

Sheikh Mohammed said that natural gas estimated at between 10 trillion cubic feet and 20 trillion cubic feet has also been discovered.

The new huge discovery was made in west Bahrain in what is called the Khalij Al-Bahrain Basin.

The minister said that appraisal studies are underway with the help of international oil companies to assess the quantities that can be extracted of both oil and gas.

Yahya al-Ansari, manager of exploration at national oil company Bahrain Petroleum Co. said that pumping of oil from the field is not expected for at least five years.</s>MANAMA (Reuters) - A new discovery off the coast of Bahrain is estimated to contain at least 80 billion barrels of tight oil, the kingdom’s biggest ever find, Bahrain’s oil minister said.

Bahrain said on Sunday it had discovered extensive tight oil and deep gas resources off the west coast of the kingdom.

Independent appraisals by U.S.-based oil consultants DeGolyer and MacNaughton and oilfield services company Halliburton had confirmed Bahrain’s find of “highly significant quantities of oil in place for the Khalij Al Bahrain, with tight oil amounting to at least 80 billion barrels, and deep gas reserves in the region of 10-20 trillion cubic feet,” Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al-Khalifa said.

Tight oil is a form of light crude oil held in shale deep below the earth’s surface.

“Agreement has been reached with Halliburton to commence drilling on two further appraisal wells in 2018, to further evaluate reservoir potential, optimize completions, and initiate long-term production,” he told a news conference in Manama.

Sheikh Mohammed said he was not sure yet how much of the estimated 80 billion barrels was recoverable, but the kingdom aims to attract foreign oil and gas firms to develop the resources.

“The newly-discovered resource, which officials expect to be ‘on production’ within five years, is expected to provide significant and long-term positive benefits to the kingdom’s economy – both directly and indirectly through downstream activities in related industries,” a statement by Bahrain’s National Communication Center said.

The new energy resource is expected to contain many times the amount of oil produced by Bahrain’s existing oilfields, as well as large amounts of gas, state news agency BNA reported on Sunday.

The small non-OPEC Gulf oil producer gets it oil revenues from two fields: the onshore Bahrain field, and the offshore Abu Safah field, which is shared jointly with Saudi Arabia.</s>Bahrain announced newly discovered shale oil reserve estimated to contain more than 80 billion barrels. File picture shows an oil and gas processing plant fed by local shale wells is pictured along a highway outside Carrizo Springs in Dimmit County, Texas May 2, 2014. — Reuters pic MANAMA (Bahrain), April 4 — Bahrain today announced its newly discovered shale oil reserve was estimated to contain more than 80 billion barrels, making the once-marginal oil producer potentially a major player in the market.

The amount of recoverable oil — or oil that can be extracted — is still under study, Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa told a press conference in Manama.

The field covers 2,000 square kilometres (772 square miles) in shallow waters off the kingdom’s west coast, which faces oil giant Saudi Arabia.

The new field would in theory dwarf the Bahrain Field, the country’s only other oil field, which contains several hundred million barrels.

The actual impact of the discovery is contingent on how much of it is actually extractable.

Yahya al-Ansari, exploration manager at Bahrain’s national oil company Bapco, said that the pumping of oil from the field is not expected for at least five years.

Speaking to reporters after today’s press conference, Ansari said Bahraini authorities, in cooperation with international oil companies, were trying to establish how much oil can be extracted.

“What we have announced is oil in place ... So far, we don’t know how much of it can be extracted and the cost of its production,” two important elements that could determine whether the major announcement is viable.

“The US shale oil industry normally extracts 5-10 per cent of the known shale oil reserves and raising this percentage depends on the advancement of technology,” Ansari said.

The Bahraini minister and Ansari refused to be drawn into providing details about how much production Bahrain is likely to have in five years.

Shale oil production is a costly business and is far more expensive than conventional oil. In some cases, high cost makes production commercially not possible.

International consultants DeGolyer and MacNaughton, Halliburton, and Schlumberger are heading the project with Bahrain’s National Oil and Gas Authority.

Analyst Stephen Brennock of broker PVM Oil said the find has “the potential to be a game changer” for the tiny Gulf kingdom.

“However, it is still early days and the reserves of the field have yet to be finalised. Moreover, it will be several years before these newly found supplies are brought online,” Brennock told AFP.

“It remains completely unclear yet how much of the 80 billion barrels can be seen as recoverable reserves. Furthermore, apparently it is a shale oil reservoir, which would inflate production costs.

“Nonetheless it is a significant discovery and even if only a small fraction of it can be produced it would change Bahrain’s position in the region substantially,” a JBC analyst said.

Bahrain, which sits between regional arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, was the first of the Gulf states to discover crude but is today the smallest of the Gulf producers.

The tiny Sunni-ruled kingdom currently produces some 50,000 barrels per day of crude oil from the Bahrain Field, discovered in 1932.

Manama also gets another 150,000 barrels daily from the Abu Saafa offshore field, which it splits equally with Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom has also discovered natural gas estimated at between 10 trillion cubic feet and 20 trillion cubic feet, Sheikh Mohammed said.

Bahrain, which is not a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), is nonetheless part of an agreement between Opec and non-Opec members to cut oil production in the wake of the 2014 market crash.

The Gulf Cooperation Council, which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, together pump around 17 million barrels of oil per day, equivalent to some 18 per cent of global production or 55 per cent of Opec’s output.

To help cope with the drop in oil revenues following the collapse in crude prices, slashed by half since mid-2014, the GCC states decided to impose a value-added tax of five per cent from 2018. — AFP</s>Independent appraisals by US-based oil consultants DeGolyer and MacNaughton and oilfield services company Halliburton had confirmed Bahrain’s find with tight oil amounting to at least 80 billion barrels, and deep gas reserves in the region of 10-20 trillion cubic feet. An agreement has been reached with Halliburton to commence drilling on two further appraisal wells in 2018, to further evaluate reservoir potential, optimise completions, and initiate long-term production al-Khalifa said during a press conference.

In light of Bahrain’s junk rating by all three major credit ratings agencies, the newly discovered resource is expected to provide significant and long-term positive benefits to the kingdom’s economy.

Sadad al-Husseini, a former senior executive at Saudi Aramco and now an energy consultant, said the discovery was positive news for Bahrain, but more data gathering, evaluation and well testing needed to follow to determine whether there are any future commercial opportunities in the resources, according to Reuters.

He said that converting resource estimates to reserves is an intense and costly process and not all the resources may ultimately be upgraded to reserves and that the additional drilling and data gathering will serve to improve the accuracy and reliability of the estimate.

Bahrain has approximately 124.6 million barrels of proven reserves, and currently gets it oil revenues from two fields: the onshore Bahrain field, and the offshore Abu Safah field, which is shared jointly with Saudi Arabia. The Bahrain field, produced around 50,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2015, according to the US Energy Information Administration, and Bahrain and Saudi Arabia split annual revenues from the 300,000 bpd Abu Safah offshore field where production is overseen by Saudi Aramco.

The Bahraini government earned $4.3 billion in oil and gas revenue last year and ran a budget deficit of $2.7 billion.</s>, Manama, Bahrain, Apr 4 – Bahrain on Wednesday announced its newly discovered shale oil reserve was estimated to contain more than 80 billion barrels, making the once-marginal oil producer potentially a major player in the market.

The amount of recoverable oil — or oil that can be extracted — is still under study, Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa told a press conference in Manama.

The field covers 2,000 square kilometres (772 square miles) in shallow waters off the kingdom’s west coast, which faces oil giant Saudi Arabia.

The new field would in theory dwarf the Bahrain Field, the country’s only other oil field, which contains several hundred million barrels.

The actual impact of the discovery is contingent on how much of it is actually extractable. Yahya al-Ansari, exploration manager at Bahrain’s national oil company Bapco, said that pumping of oil from the field is not expected for at least five years.

International consultants DeGolyer and MacNaughton, Halliburton, and Schlumberger are heading the project with Bahrain’s National Oil and Gas Authority.

Bahrain, which sits between regional arch-rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, was the first Gulf state to discover crude but is today the smallest producer among the six oil-rich states of the Gulf.

The tiny Sunni-ruled kingdom currently produces some 50,000 barrels per day of crude oil from the Bahrain Field, discovered in 1932.

Manama also gets another 150,000 barrels daily from the Abu Saafa offshore field, which it splits equally with Saudi Arabia.

The kingdom has also discovered natural gas estimated at between 10 trillion cubic feet and 20 trillion cubic feet, Sheikh Mohammed said.

Bahrain, which is not a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is nonetheless part of an agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC members to cut oil production in the wake of the 2014 market crash.

The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries together pump around 17 million barrels of oil per day, equivalent to some 18 percent of global production or 55 percent of OPEC’s output.

To help cope with the drop in oil revenues following the collapse in crude prices, slashed by half since mid-2014, the GCC states decided to impose a value-added tax of five percent from 2018.</s>The Arabian Gulf island nation Bahrain announced that it has discovered 80 billion barrels of oil. If claims are true, it is as much as Russia’s oil reserves. The Persian Gulf country also claimed that it is biggest oil discovery since the year 1932. According to the reports of the Bahrain official news agency, the newly discovered new oil fields might contain high quantities of oil and gas, on the country’s western coast. However, officials are yet to estimate the quantity of oil and gas discovered. However, reports said that field is understood to dwarf Bahrain’s current reserves.

Talking about the development, Bahrain’s oil minister Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said, “Initial analysis demonstrates the find is a substantial level, capable of supporting the long-term extraction of tight oil and deep gas. It is a major financial boost for Bahrain, as the country is the smallest oil producer in the Gulf region. According to the recent government statistics, it was pumping roughly 50,000 barrels of crude a day in 2014. According to United States Energy Information Administration, Bahrain’s neighbor Saudi Arabia has 266 billion barrels in reserves. The Gulf country has proven oil reserves of just 125 million barrels.

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Currently, Bahrain has only one oil field under its full control. Under the terms of a 1958 agreement with neighbor Saudi Arabia, the country share revenue from another offshore field called Abu Sa’fah. Bahrain is not a member of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), an intergovernmental organisation of 14 countries, headquartered in Vienna, Austria. Although, it has joined the cartel and other major producers in an agreement designed to limit oil production and support prices. The agreement will exist until 2018.

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ALSO READ: Chandrababu Naidu drums up support for TDP’s no-confidence motion, meets Arvind Kejriwal</s>Bahrain has announced the discovery of 80 billion barrels of shale oil, the island nation’s largest oil and gas find ever.

Bahrain has announced the discovery of 80 billion barrels of shale oil, the island nation’s largest oil and gas find ever.

Bahrain’s oil minister and energy executives detailed the find at a press conference, saying the tight oil was discovered in the offshore Khalij al-Bahrain Basin, which spans 770 square miles in shallow waters off the country’s west coast.

The field also contains an estimated 14 trillion cubic feet of gas. Oil minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa said the amount of oil that can be extracted from the Khalij al-Bahrain Basin is still being studied.

The discovery still dwarfs the onshore Bahrain oil field, which produces around 45,000 barrels per day. The non-Opec country also produces close to 160,000 barrels of oil per day from an offshore field it shares with Saudi Arabia.

The minister announced a separate discovery of gas reserves below Bahrain’s main gas reservoir, with estimates that push deep gas reserves in the region to between 10 and 20 trillion cubic feet. Experts and officials said they expect the newly discovered oil field to be producing within five years.

Bahrain started pumping oil in 1932, becoming the first among its Arab Gulf neighbours to produce oil. The Arab state, ruled by a Sunni-led monarchy, is in the Persian Gulf just east of Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich coastal areas and desert. It hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet.

Bahrain is not a major oil producer but the new finds have the potential to significantly raise the country’s profile and boost its economy, which has suffered double blows in recent years from lower oil prices and years of unrest and protests by majority Shiites.

Like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, it introduced a 5% value-added tax this year to most goods and services.</s>MANANA: Bahrain on Wednesday announced its newly discovered shale oil reserve was estimated to contain more than 80 billion barrels, making the country a potential major player in the market.

 The amount of recoverable oil — or oil that can be extracted — is still under study, Oil Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Khalifa told a press conference in Manama.

 The field covers 2,000 square km in shallow waters off the kingdom’s west coast.

 The new field would in theory dwarf the Bahrain Field, the country’s only other oil field, which contains several hundred million barrels.

 The actual impact of the discovery is contingent on how much of it is actually extractable. — AFP
Bahrain says a recently-discovered offshore oilfield in its territorial waters contains 80 billion barrels of petroleum.