The planned 350,000 barrels-a-day oil pipeline between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain is set for completion next year, according to the country's oil minister.

The pipeline is being constructed to facilitate the planned expansion of the Bahrain refinery, Oil Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al-Khalifa told news agency Reuters in an interview.

Bahrain was also considering constructing a gas pipeline to Saudi Arabia, he added.

The main contract to expand the capacity of Bahrain's only refinery from 267,000 barrels a day (b/d) to 360,000 b/d will be awarded before year-end, he added.

Bids for the estimated $5.6bn Bapco refinery expansion programme were submitted in December.

MEED understands that negotiations were on with the team of Technip, Tecnicas Reunidas and Samsung Engineering. The project has yet to reach financial close. Bapco was considering financing about $3bn to $4bn of the required amount through export credit agencies (ECAs).

The following teams submitted bids in December:

• JGC (Japan) / GS Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Technip (France) / Tecnicas Reunidas (Spain) / Samsung Engineering (South Korea)
• Fluor (US) / Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea) / Daewoo Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• CB&I (US) / Petrofac (UK) / Mitsui and Company

The first units of the Sitra refinery were built six years after oil was discovered in Bahrain in 1932, and receives crude as feedstock from the Awali field as well as the offshore Abu Safa oil field which it shares with Saudi Arabia.