Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp) is looking at involving itself with Bahrain's $8 billion refinery expansion master plan, said its general manager and chief executive.

Ahmad Al Nuaimi said the company was working with the Energy Ministry and the National Oil and Gas Authority to tap into the project.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a Mena Energy Investment in a Global Setting symposium at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel and Spa.

He said talks were ongoing with authorities.

'We are in the process of concluding the modalities and looking into the option of providing debt financing.'

Apicorp is a Saudi-based multinational bank owned by 10 Arab states.

Earlier, in his opening remarks, he said Apicorp joined hands with Chevron in 1978 to establish Banagas, one of the most successful projects in Bahrain.

'This is one of our most successful projects in Bahrain and we will continue to seek more participation in Bahrain's oil and gas sector,' he added.

HESS Energy Trading Company chief economist Roberto Sieber said demand for oil over the next few years is expected to increase significantly from the Asia Pacific region.

'More than one and a half billion people are being added to the middle class in the region every year,' he said. There will be a huge demand for energy to satisfy the growing consumption needs of this growing middle class,' he added.

He said the emergence of this vast middle class creates a demand for oil and gas, especially since no real sustainable alternative energy source had been developed.

UK-based consultancy Petroleum Policy Intelligence chief executive Bill Farren-Price said 2012 had seen Mena's political upheavals replaced with a less visible but no less intense movement for political change. His presentation looked at the reasons behind the political crises in Mena countries, while assessing the risk to the Gulf's major oil producers.

Apicorp senior policy consultant Ali Aissaoui spoke about investment scenario in Mena and said amid major shifts in the patterns of global demand and supply, the region is expected to provide the bulk of oil output growth and a large amount of natural gas. – TradeArabia News Service