The Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) is an integrated petroleum company that is the national oil company of Bahrain.
It was founded in 1929 and discovered the first oil field in the Persian Gulf outside of Iran in 1932. Shipments of crude oil commenced in 1934 and in 1936 the first refinery in the Gulf outside of Iran was built. The founders were the American Standard Oil of California, which was soon joined by Texaco, operating under British rule.
While Bahrain never was a high-volume crude oil producer, the American joint venture a few years later came into possession of the vast Saudi Arabian oil reserves, which are located on the mainland in the vicinity of Bahrain Island. Supplied from the mainland, the refinery though exceeded the capacity of the Bahrain oil field from its inception and was among the largest in the region.
The Bahrain concession was the first of three concessions awarded exclusively to American interests in the Middle East and was followed by Aramco in Saudi Arabia and by the joint venture active in the Saudi Arabian–Kuwaiti neutral zone.
Overview
BAPCO was established in 1929 in Canada by Standard Oil Company of California for oil exploration activities in Bahrain. It took over Bahrain's assets of Gulf Oil. In 1930 it obtained the only oil concession in Bahrain. BAPCO discovered first oil in 1931. On 31 May 1932, the company discovered the Bahrain Field (Awali Field). After exporting oil and constructing a refinery, it started with refining capacity in 1936. Later that year the Standard Oil Company of California signed an agreement with Texaco, which acquired a half of BAPCO's shares.
In 1975, more than 60% BAPCO's shares was acquired by the Government of Bahrain. In 1980, all BAPCO's shares were taken over by the Government of Bahrain. In 1978 the oil sector was nationalized and BAPCO assumed full control of the national energy sector.
In 1999, the current Bahrain Petroleum Company was created when the Bahrain National Oil Company, established in 1976, merged with BAPCO. In 2018 BAPCO commissioned a new pipeline that replaced the over 70 years old pipeline infrastructure between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. In March 2019 construction work was started to upgrade the main oil refinery Sitra. The $5 billion project will increase the capacity to . Abdulrahman Jawahery is CEO of the BAPCO.
In August 2021, BAPCO signed a five year agreement for catalyst management with Chevron Joint Venture for $240 million. The clean fuels group specialist Advanced Refining Technologies (ART), which is a joint venture of Chevron and W. R. Grace and Company, will supply there Resid Hyrdocracking catalyst technology for the new Resid Hydrocracking unit (1RHCU) that is to be operational by 2023.
In October 2021, BAPCO was released from the base oils joint venture with Neste and Nogaholding, ending the presence of Neste in Bahrain.
In February 2022, BAPCO signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) for the implementation of environment, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.
In 2023, BAPCO became part of the BAPCO Energies brand together with Bahrain National Gas Company (Banagas), Bahrain National Gas Expansion Company (Tawseah), Bahrain Aviation Fueling Company (Bafco) Tatweer Petroleum, and Bapco Retail Company (Tazweed).
BAPCO is a founding company of the Gulf Downstream Association (GDA).
The Bapco Modernisation Programme (BMP) completed the construction of the main control building in July 2023 and celebrated with a ceremony, in which for the first time ever in the Middle East a three-dimensional model of the BMP was presented. The ceremony was attended by Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, who was also given a tour of the facilities and briefed about further BMP project progress. The BMP was 90% complete by August 2023.
In July 2023, Bapco Energies launched its Sustainability Linked Finance Framework, which fits into Bahrain's sustainability and climate change commitments to reduce emissions by 30% by 2035 and a net zero by 2060. In accordance with Bahrain's new energy strategy, Bapco Energies B.S.C began additional developments in August 2023 to become an energy company with fossil fuel based renewable energies. The company aims to generate 20% of Bahrain's energy from renewable sources by 2035 and continues to seek investment opportunities in renewable energy projects and carbon reduction technologies.
In March 2024, BAPCO began a cooperation with TotalEnergies in order to optimize its Sitra refinery. A strategic partnership between the two companies, which began in July 2024, provides BAPCO with additional market opportunities and trading strategies, as well as access to TotalEnergies' networks.
In September 2025, it was announced that the Sitra expansion would be commissioned in the fourth quarter of the year. The expansion will increase the plant's production of jet fuel by 90% and ultra-low sulfur diesel by 72%.
2026 refinery attacks In March 2026, an Iranian drone struck one of BAPCO's refineries.
The Iranian drone strikes occurred near the Gulf region's oldest oil refinery and damaged multiple residences.
The March 2026 drone attack in the Sitra area injured 32 Bahraini civilians, including four people in serious condition and children who required medical treatment.
On 5 April 2026, Bapco Energies declared that an Iranian drone attack caused a tank fire at one of its storage facilities. The fire was extinguished, and no injuries were reported.
BAPCO declared after the attack that Bahrain's domestic market needs remained fully secured and that supplies would continue without disruption under contingency plans.
Operations BAPCO is an integrated oil company operating in the field of refining, and marketing. It operates a oil refinery which lies midway between the original BAPCO expat workers accommodation township of Awali and Sitra. The complex also includes storage facilities for , a marketing terminal, and a marine terminal. 95% of the company's products are for exports. BAPCO is a major exporter of diesel, jet fuel and naphtha to countries in the Middle East and Asia.
About one-sixth of this crude originates from the Bahrain Field, with the remainder being pumped from Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco supplies approximately through the pipeline from Aramco's Abqaiq Plant. Once the flagship Sitra refinery's expansion is completed in 2023, its capacity will be increased from 267,000 bpd to 380,000 bpd.
History
On December 2, 1925 the British Eastern and General Syndicate, headed by Frank Holmes, acquired from the Sheik of Bahrain (Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa) an oil concession over 100,000 acres with exclusive right to develop the area. Shortly thereafter the concession was extended to cover all of Bahrain. On November 30, 1927, the Eastern Gulf Oil Co. subsidiary of Gulf Oil bought an option on the concession, to be exercised before January 1, 1929.
Gulf Oil was at the time a shareholder in the Near East Development Corporation, which held a 23.75% stake in the Iraq Petroleum Company. Thus, Gulf Oil was bound by the Red Line Agreement, which stipulated that the company would not be allowed to exploit Bahrain oil without the involvement of the other members of IPC, or rather, if they did, they would bear all the downsides of exploration and still would have to share the spoils with the rest of the group. When IPC was unwilling to exercise the option jointly, Gulf Oil on December 21, 1928 sold it to the Standard Oil Company of California for $50,000, which was approximately equal to the total cost Gulf Oil had incurred for it (book value).
Diplomacy
The agreement was divided into a two-year exploration phase ("First Schedule"), covering all of Bahrein, a surface search not exceeding 20 feet of depth for signs of hydrocarbons, followed by a two-year prospecting (exploratory drilling) phase ("Second Schedule") at the end of which a mining lease over 100,000 acres (ca 51% of the area of the country) divided into no more than 3 blocks was to be awarded, followed by a 55-year mining lease period ("Third Schedule").
A considerable diplomatic back-and-forth developed during the following years in which the British government asserted its political influence when after a lack of British investment United States capital was attempting to gain access under the terms that were apparently, in the eyes of Britain, not meant to apply to foreigners.
On December 2, 1927 the exploration license was extended for one year by the Sheikh.No. 2 of April 2, 1928 The British Secretary of State for the Colonies Leo Amery in June 1928 instructed his political resident in the Persian Gulf to effect an alteration of the concession to include the stipulation that the lease holder had to be a company under British or British Dominion law.No. 3 of June 19, 1928 The Eastern and General Syndicate (EGS) sent three geologists to the island in the winter of 1927/1928, and by October 1928 had decided to attempt to get a further extension of the exploration phase and send more geologists.No. 4 of October 22, 1928
When EGS could not find a British company willing to invest in the enterprise, they turned to an American company that was as member of the Iraq Petroleum Company subject to the Red Line Agreement and thus not outright able on their part to work the concession without first getting approval from the consortium. EGS had received one pessimistic prospect for oil from their first geologist, 4 optimistic prospects thereafter and were at the time planning to send geologist #1 back again to reexamine all available evidence.No. 5 of November 8, 1928
Secretary Amery, acting via the Colonial Office (the conduit for all communication with EGS), then tried to get the British company clause inserted by asking EGS to try and insert it in the course of obtaining their second licence extension,No. 6 of November 23, 1928 to which EGS objected, because it would have alienated their option holder Gulf Oil and would have put EGS at risk of losing the concession and stranded their investment. EGS wanted the British government to lean on the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) or through AIOC on the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC).
The lack of interest shown by AIOC and the Gulf Oil purchase of an option applied also to other EGS concessions that had been won: in Kuwait, Hasa province (Saudi Arabia, May 6, 1923) and the Neutral Territory between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (May 17, 1924). It was Gulf Oil who had approached EGS after talking to an EGS geologist (T. George Madgwick) who had returned from the Middle East to the United States.
Two agreements were signed on November 30, 1927: (1) Gulf Oil's option on the Bahrein concession and (2) Gulf Oil's option on all other (Mainland) EGS concessions.No. 7 of December 19, 1928 EGS paid the 10,000 rupees annual royalty (Article VI) to the Bahrein state on December 2, 1928.No. 9 of January 21, 1929 Standard Oil of California (SOCAL), not restricted by the Red Line Agreement, had in the meantime bought the option from Gulf Oil and on January 11, 1929 had incorporated a Canadian subsidiary, the Bahrein Petroleum Company in anticipation of what would be acceptable to the British government and stood ready to begin work on the concession. In April 1929, EGS was still trying to get approval for the transfer of the concession to SOCAL from the British Colonial Office.No. 14 of April 8, 1929