$355-million Banagas Expansion project signed with Japanese company

Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of the Bahrain National Gas Company (Banagas), and Yoshihiro Shigehisa, Chairman Emeritus of Japanese company JGC Group, signed an agreement yesterday for a $355 million worth gas plant for the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) subsidiary.

 The signing ceremony was held at Four Seasons Hotel here under the patronage of Minister of Energy Dr Abdulhussain Mirza.

The agreement covers engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the plant.

Three international companies had participated in the tendering process at the design and construction phase of the gas plant, a design which had to accommodate 350 million cubic feet of associated gas from the Bahrain Oil Field and produce liquefied petroleum gas and naphtha, utilising re-injection pressure and excess gas. The plant will be equipped to process dry gas.

The project is expected to take 32 months to be ready for a trial run and start actual operations in September 2018. It is one of the largest projects implemented by the company in terms of capital, energy utilisation and providing job opportunities to Bahrainis

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Dr Mirza said the agreement was a significant milestone for Banagas Expansion and added to the achievements of the energy sector in Bahrain.

The project is among the many other Noga strategic projects aimed at securing continued economic growth in the country and to raise the standard of living of the people of the Kingdom.

The Minister said that all the strategic projects implemented by Noga over the past year, reflected the developmental and leadership roles played by oil, gas and energy sector in the economic development process witnessed by the Kingdom of Bahrain.

He expressed happiness, appreciation and gratitude to the wise leadership for the support received by the energy sector in the Kingdom, which he said, came with positive results and improved the sector, which was a key contributor to the national economy.

Dr Mirza said that setting up of the gas project by JGC further enhanced the historical relations between the company and the oil companies in Bahrain.

The Japanese company had earlier fulfilled several projects in Bahrain, including a Banagas project in 1979.