Gulf Petrochemical Industries (GPIC) made $186 million in net profits in 2013, all of which will be paid out as dividends, the company chairman has announced.

The company also recorded several achievements enabling it to win several prestigious awards during the year, added Shaikh Isa bin Ali Al Khalifa, GPIC chairman and adviser to HRH the Prime Minister for industrial and oil affairs in a statement following the 35th annual general meeting, according to a report in the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

The chairman expressed his pride in the close relationship between Bahrain and the shareholders from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait making the company a model example of joint Gulf co-operation.

Shaikh Isa said he was pleased with GPIC's achievements during 2013 which were represented by the continuous operations and productivity at a high level of efficiency and quality while maintaining the highest standards of safety and security. He said the company maintained its outstanding safety record by achieving a total of 16.6 million hours without lost time accidents for its workers and the contractors' workforce.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Shaikh Mohamed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, chief executive of the Oil and Gas Holding Company representing the Bahraini side while the Kuwaiti side was represented by Asaad Ahmed Al Saad, chief executive of Petrochemical Industries Company of Kuwait. The Saudi side was represented by Fawaz bin Mohamed Al Fawaz, vice-president finance at Saudi Basic Industries Corporation.

The meeting approved the board of directors' report about the company's operations in 2013 and the auditors' report. Approval was given to the distribution of profits allotted to the shareholders, appointment of the auditors and absolving members of the report from liability for their acts of management during the year.

"GPIC continued to make continuous achievements resulting in excellent profits, reduction in expenditure and increased productivity in spite of the significant challenges and difficulties faced by the world's petrochemical industry," company president Dr Abdulrahman Jawahery said.

"During the year, the company achieved all its production objectives. Records were registered by the company during the year including the production of a total of 1.6m tons of Ammonia, Urea and Methanol, which was the highest annual output by the company since its inception."

On the CO2 Recovery Unit, Dr Jawahery said its operations continued smoothly during the year enabling the company to reduce CO2 emissions and to maintain the environment according to the standards prescribed by the Bahrain government.

Dr Jawahery explained that GPIC was able to maintain the efficiency of its preventative maintenance systems ensuring the operational efficiency of its units. He said the company was committed to a 10-year plan for periodical renovation or replacement of the equipment according to their useful life and efficiency in health related terms.

Dr Jawahery praised the tremendous efforts made by the company for training of Bahrainis, registering a Bahrainisation rate of 92 per cent by the end of the year.

He said that GPIC has won the Bahrain Labour Ministry's Award for Manpower Development and was included in the firms exempted from payment of occupational training and human resource development subscriptions.

Dr Jawahery praised the company's commitment to protection of the environment which was greatly enhanced with the successful operation of the CO2 Recovery Plant. He said the company's efforts and environmental initiatives enabled it to win several awards during 2013.

The most prestigious of these were the RoSPA International Safety Award and the RoSPA Chemical Sector Award in the areas of occupational safety, health and the environment from the Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents, which the company won for the 13th successive time.

Dr Jawahery noted the key achievements of the company during the previous year and said GPIC was able to win the e-Government Excellence Award 2013 for the Joint Sector. – TradeArabia News Service