Oil Minister concludes visit to USA

Texas, Apr. 7 (BNA): His Excellency the Minister of Oil, Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa concluded yesterday a visit to the USA, accompanied by a senior delegation. He attended the Houston Oil and Gas Roadshow for 3 days in Houston, Texas, which aimed at showcasing the vast opportunities awaiting the US oil and gas majors in the Kingdom’s fast expanding energy sector, which recently announced a new tight oil discovery off its coast estimated to be Bahrain’s biggest ever find. HE the Minister commenced the Houston meetings with a speech on the current positive situation of the energy sector of Bahrain, and promising investment opportunities on results of recent geological studies and avenues of cooperation and bilateral support in this vital sector. Dr. Dawood Nassif, Director, the Bahrain Petroleum Company – Chairman of BMP Steering Committee, and. Mr. James Eastlake, CEO, Tatweer Petroleum gave presentations on investment opportunities in the energy sector of the Kingdom. The Bahraini delegation included HE Shaikh Abdulla bin Rashid Al-Khalifa, Bahrain’s Ambassador to the USA, HE Sameer Abdullah Nass, Chairman of Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, HE Khalid Rashid Al Zayani, Co-Chairman of the US Bahrain Business Council, Mr. Qays Zu’bi, President, American Chamber of Commerce in Bahrain. The US side included Mr. Justin Siberell, the US Ambassador to Bahrain, Mr. Sylvester Turner, the Mayor of Houston, Mr. David Philips, Chairman of the Houston Bilateral Chamber of Commerce, senior officials of Houston and representatives from over 200 US companies specialised in the oil and gas sector. The visit included a series of meetings with senior US government officials in Washington DC, the US Bahrain Business Council and the American Chamber of Commerce during which discussions were held on topics of mutual interest for both sides. The accompanying Bahraini delegation also held business meetings designed to encourage partnerships amongst the private sectors in both countries. HE the Minister of Oil commented that the visit was successful in showcasing the oil and gas opportunities in Bahrain to the relevant US companies. "We are hopeful to attract some good partners to work in Bahrain", HE Shaikh Mohammed added. The Houston Oil and Gas Roadshow was organised by the American Chamber of Commerce in association with the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) from 3rd till 6th of April 2019, as part of NOGA’s strategy aimed to attract US companies to Bahrain, and utilise their expertise in shale oil production to assist the Kingdom in commercialising the opportunities that were announced in 2018. Houston has been selected for the roadshow due to being the oil capital of the world with many international oil and gas companies based there.