MANAMA – Bahrain on Wednesday announced its newly discovered oil wells wasestimated to contain more than 80 billion barrels, making the once-marginaloil producer potentially a major player in the market.
The amount of recoverable oil — or oil that can be extracted — is stillunder study, Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa told apress conference in Manama.
The new field dwarfs the Bahrain Field, the country’s only other oil field,which contains several hundred million barrels.
The small Gulf state currently produces some 50,000 barrels per day ofcrude oil from the Bahrain Field, discovered in 1932.
Manama also gets another 150,000 barrels daily from the Abu Saafa offshorefield it shares equally with giant neighbour and oil powerhouse SaudiArabia.
Sheikh Mohammed said that natural gas estimated at between 10 trillioncubic feet and 20 trillion cubic feet has also been discovered.
The new huge discovery was made in west Bahrain in what is called theKhalij Al-Bahrain Basin.