Mizra inaugurates 1st Middle East Conference for Basic Oils and Lubricants

Minister of Energy Dr. Abdul Hussain bin Ali Mirza inaugurated this morning the 1st Middle East Conference for Essential Oils and Lubricants under the slogan: (opportunities and challenges for the essential oils and lubricants manufacturing industry and future prospects) organized by Conference Concussion Group and Petro-seal in collaboration with the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) with participation from more than 150 CEOs, experts, consultants, experts, engineers, professionals, a number of representatives of local, regional and international firms as well as academic researchers from various local, regional and international universities and vocational institutes from 16 countries in order to exchange information and scientific expertise and to work on developing participants' practical and vocational skills. The Minister of Energy in his inaugural speech expressed utmost delight towards the Kingdom of Bahrain's hosting of this major event and gratitude to organizers for choosing the Kingdom of Bahrain in which to convene this world-class event. The Minister narrated some significant activities in oil refining in the Kingdom of Bahrain, for instance, in the year 2011, HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister, inaugurated the essential oils and lubricants production project owned by the Bahrain Basic Oils and Lubricants Company at a total cost of US$ 430 million. The Minister asserted that under current market situation and in view of limited resources, technical and marketing risks should be reduced but not overlooked. One method to achieve this ambition is to form strategic alliances in which companies synergistically rely on their points of strength. Regarding the essential oils and lubricants factory in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Finnish Nest-Oil Company provided technical know-how from Nest-Jacobs Group, and operational expertise from Borvo Refinery in Finland in addition to its own marketing experience gained through its global operations. On the other hand, the Kingdom of Bahrain committed highly qualified manpower and a plot of land located in the vicinity of the refinery and export facilities. The Minister also expressed pride in the fact that the project was implemented with employees from 12 nationalities who spoke 20 languages and was completed within the allocated budget and specified timetable and, grace be to Almighty Allah, the project has a record of 10 million hours of operation without any time-wasting incident. The Minister anticipated a market rebound to its 2010-level by the year 2016. The Minister emphasized that in compliance with Euro 5/6 Environmental Restrictions, levels of carbon emissions in the atmosphere, new engine manufacturing technologies are likely to be invented which would require a new generation of lubricant oils and this is a challenge which we should henceforth be prepared to meet.