New Middle East joint operating company to boost Bahrain oil & gas production

17-Mar-09

Occidental Petroleum Corporation and Mubadala Development Company, a business development and investment company based in Abu Dhabi, recently announced signing an Interim Agreement with the National Oil and Gas Authority of Bahrain (NOGA) for the further development of the Bahrain Field. Under this agreement, OXY, Mubadala and NOGA will form a new joint operating company (JOC) to implement a development plan to boost the Bahrain oil and gas production. The development plan is expected to increase oil production to over 100,000 bpd and significantly increase gas production capacity above today's level of approximately 1,500 mmcfd. Capital investment in the project is expected to be approximately US$1.5 bln on a gross basis over the initial five years of the 20-year Development and Production Sharing Agreement (DPSA) with significant additional investments thereafter. During this interim phase, Oxy and Mubadala will continue to have exclusive rights to finalize negotiations on a twenty-year Development and Production Sharing Agreement (DPSA) for the Bahrain Field. It is expected that these negotiations will be concluded by the end of April, 2009.