Bahrain’s ambitious $6-billion Bapco Modernisation Programme (BMP) is 25 per cent complete with $1 billion having already been spent, said Dr Pete Bartlett, Bapco CEO.

More than 1,300 km of instrument cabling will be laid during the BMP, which is the distance between Bahrain and Cairo, Dr Bartlett said during a Stakeholder Engagement Meeting (SEM).

The project will also see 1.2 million sq m of painting and use 65,000 tonnes of structural steel, double the amount used in the building of the Bahrain World Trade Centre twin towers, said a report in the GDN, our sister publication.

The BMP will require 90 million hours of work, which Bapco aspires to complete without a single LTI (lost-time incident) having already logged 3.5 million hours of work without an incident, added Dr Bartlett.

Twenty-one new operating units will be constructed at Bapco under the BMP.

The foundation stone for the biggest industrial project in the history of Bahrain was laid this March by His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier.

In May, Bapco secured the finances for the multi-billion-dollar project from five credit agencies and 21 banks.

The BMP represents a major expansion and upgrade of the facility that will increase the total refinery output up to 380,000 barrels per day (bpd).