Aramco, BAPCO announce new phase of Saudi-Bahrain pipeline

State-owned Saudi Aramco and the Bahrain Petroleum Company (BAPCO) have announced the commissioning of the AB-4 pipeline, a new phase in the strategic Saudi-Bahrain crude oil pipeline.

The new pipeline aims to meet Bahrain's growing energy demand and will be capable of transporting up to 350,000 barrels of crude oil per day, the Saudi oil company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The AB-4 pipeline, which is 30 inches in diameter and 112-kilometre long, originates at Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq Plants Facility and terminates at the BAPCO Refinery in Bahrain.

It consists of three segments: a 42-kilometres onshore Saudi segment, a 28-kilometres Bahrain onshore segment, and a 42-kilometres offshore segment.

The new pipeline is equipped with the latest technologies to ensure safety, environmental protection and hydrocarbon supply reliability in the coming decades.

“The commissioning of the AB-4 pipeline is another chapter in the special relationship between Saudi Aramco and BAPCO in several aspects including the energy sector that has flourished for more than 73 years and beyond,” said Abdullah M. Mansour, acting executive head of pipelines distribution & terminals, Saudi Aramco.

The existing 73-year-old pipeline system, which has been supplying BAPCO with crude oil since 1945, will retire safely, the statement stated.