The Bahrain oil industry is on the threshold of a golden era, Oil and Gas Affairs Minister and National Oil and Gas Authority chairman Dr Abdulhussain Mirza said yesterday.

He told delegates at the opening of Eighth Middle East Geoscience Conference and Exhibition (GEO 2008) at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain, Hotel and Spa last night, that the kingdom was playing its part by implementing a massive redevelopment programme in the Bahrain Field.

'In the coming 15 years we are planning to add another 700 wells to maintain and increase oil production,' he said.

'Many of the wells will be special architecture wells to maximise reservoir contact in order to improve well productivities.'

'With the right technology, business environment and people the energy challenges of the future are within our collective power to resolve. It is up to each of us to work towards making that happen.'

The world has no option but to lean more about the Middle East to respond to the enormous increase in demand for oil, Dr Mirza said.

'We all know that two thirds of the world's proven oil reserves lie in Middle East fields.

'This has made the region the focal point of the oil industry. At the same time we can understand the concern of the world with regard to the ability of the Middle East to meet such a challenge especially when demand has to be met from giant carbonate oil reservoirs that have not experienced production acceleration or reservoir maturation.

He said the development of new oil and gas supplies will require substantial investment in technology, human resources and the creation of a proper business environment.

'Our challenge is to combine technology, business and people in a way that enables us to successfully explore for and produce these supplies and deliver them to the market as efficiently as possible,' he said.

A total of 2,000 delegates, from more than 30 countries are taking part in GEO 2008, which runs until Wednesday at the Ritz-Carlton and the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre.-TradeArabia News Service