Dr. Abdul-Hussain Ali Mirza, Minister of Energy, in his keynote address at the opening of the four-day 1st Middle East Process Engineering Conference (MEPEC) and Exhibition being held at the Gulf Hotel, said there was no doubt that in the Middle East the refining and petrochemical industries are underpinning the massive growth we are experiencing.
Dr Mirza, who is also the Chairman of the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) and Chairman of the Bapco Board of Directors, said that the process engineers are at the centre of this growth, identifying, developing and supporting solutions to meet the demands of the industry.
“With growth, of course, comes the important responsibility of caring for the environment, resource management and energy conservation, all of which must be dealt with to move forward in a sustainable way. Equally, there is no doubt that use of the latest technology will be fundamental to how we can optimise and maximise opportunities to improve performance and profitability,” he said.
This conference is arranged by the Saudi Arabian section of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the Bahrain Society of Engineers. “This is a reflection of the close working relationship of our two countries, and I am very proud that the Kingdom of Bahrain has been selected to hold this conference for the first time. I must commend the organising team for the excellent preparations, and on behalf of the people of the Kingdom of Bahrain,” he added.
“In the Kingdom of Bahrain, process engineers are core members of all of our major industrial organizations, including oil and gas, petrochemical, and other small and heavy industries. The Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) was formed in 1929 and has been the cornerstone of the Kingdom of Bahrain’s economic development since that time. Bahrain first discovered oil in 1932, and shortly thereafter in 1936 built and started up the first refinery in the GCC. In fact, the first day of operation of the Bapco refinery was on 12th July 1936, and this year the refinery celebrates 75 years of continuous operation and improvement. Over this period, there is no doubt that process engineers, working with the other key functions within the organization, have been instrumental in the many successes and improvements achieved within the refinery,” Dr Mirza explained.
“Today’s economy is the result of the discovery of oil, and consequently the revenue it has generated and the wise investment by the Political Leadership of the Kingdom of Bahrain. Under the umbrella of the National Oil and Gas Authority, NOGA, the oil and gas sector contributes to more than 80% of Bahrain’s state budget. As a result of this very significant contribution there is a lot of responsibility and trust on our shoulders to continue the growth and development. The oil and gas sector’s growing financial success is a tribute to the foresight and prudence of its leadership team as well as the dedication of its workforce,” he added.
“We also have the critical responsibility to ensure we meet customer demand, provide good value, and remain strong enough to weather any downturn, while we continue to be bold enough to take advantage of any opportunity that may appear.”
“Within the oil and gas sector, part of the future is currently being realized. We are very proud of the recent addition to the Bapco product range with the successful start-up of the new Joint Venture between Bapco, nogaholding and Neste Oil of Finland. We are now able to produce the highest quality Group III lube base oils which shall be sold under the Neste Nexbase brand. The smooth and injury free start-up is a testament to the systematic project management processes we employ, the dedication of our workforce and contractors, and the thousands of hours of planning and preparation that have been expended in making this a success. And we are very proud of the fact that over nine million incident free man-hours have been worked on this project, which is a world scale achievement,” he said.
“In addition, we are visualising the future of the Bapco refinery. Bapco has thoroughly reviewed, and continues to review the expected future market environment and has identified the key driving forces and barriers that need to be managed to achieve Bapco’s strategic objectives. Environmental concerns are the backbone of every decision that is being made in line with the global move towards cleaner and higher quality products, across the full spectrum of refined products. From a future business point of view we believe that we must look for opportunities to upgrade products and increase revenue, as well as minimizing carbon emissions. However, decisions are not being made in isolation and national interests are also considered carefully to ensure that every potential opportunity is identified. We have already initiated the Refinery Master Plan Study, in which we are defining the future refinery configuration for implementation by 2018. As part of this study we are investigating options for increasing refinery crude processing capacity, as well as the necessary upgrading of lower value fuel oil products into higher value distillates. Also, we shall address energy conservation, to protect this national strategic resource, as well as implement environmental solutions to ensure sustainable operations and development for the foreseeable future,” he said.
“We must be open to change, and be willing to adapt and adopt the latest technology and think out of the box, to stay competitive and ensure we are not left behind. The challenge applies across all our industries, and it is vital we are able to identify and integrate state-of-the-art technology to continue to improve our existing facilities, such that we can compete with the best in the industry,” he said.
“Refining and petrochemical industries are growing at a rapid pace in our region, and we must ensure that our activities leverage the latest technologies so that we carry out our business in the safest, most cost effective, efficient, and equally importantly, environmentally friendly, manner,” the Minister said.