Bahrain’s Energy Minister Dr Abdulhussain Mirza has said that short-term volatility in oil prices will not affect the kingdom’s future power projects.

He was speaking as he attended the inauguration of Bahrain Information Technology Expo at Bahrain International Circuit, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Dr Mirza said the drop in oil prices is temporary, pointing out that there is no shortage of electricity in Bahrain with a production capacity of 4,000 megawatt and a usage of 3,152MW plus an extra 600MW, which could be obtained from the GCC Power Grid Interconnection Project when needed.

He expected the second phase of Al Dour plant to be operational by 2018 to cater for the rising demand for power. Dr Mirza said the Electricity and Water Authority has chosen a consultancy firm to conduct a thorough study on power demand for the next 20 years.

On the project of replacing and extending the pipeline linking oilfields in Saudi Arabia to Bahrain's refinery facility, the minister unveiled a tender, expecting work on the project to get underway by mid-2015 and be completed by 2018.

The project is expected to raise daily crude transported via the 115-km pipeline from 220,000 barrels to 350,000 barrels. - TradeArabia News Service