Bahrain on Sunday, September 23, granted US firm Texaco and Malaysia's Petronas the rights to carry out oil and gas exploration in the Gulf state's waters in an effort to boost its meager reserves, the GNA news agency reported.
The agency gave no details on the bids submitted by the two companies. Bahrain invited bids in March for exploration and drilling rights in waters whose sovereignty was the focus of dispute between the archipelago Bahrain and Qatar until a World Court ruling in March.
Bahrain, which in 1932 became the first Gulf Arab monarchy to produce oil, has seen its reserves plunge and badly needs to discover new fields. Since 1998, it has had an exploration and production-sharing agreement with the US firm Chevron.
The Gulf state produces around 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) and receives the entire output of 140,000 bpd from an offshore field shared with Saudi Arabia. Bahrain does not export crude, only refined products from a 250,000 bpd refinery. ― (AFP, Manama)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
