Italian engineer Saipem has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Gulf Petrochemical Industries Co. (GPIC), a joint venture equally owned by Bahrain’s National Oil and Gas Holding Co., SABIC Agri-nutrient Investments and Kuwait’s Petrochemical Industries Co.

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will carry out feasibility studies on three potential projects in Bahrain. The first relates to increasing capacity by about 15% at GPIC’s ammonia, urea and methanol plants at Sitra along with reducing energy use and consumption of natural gas feedstocks. Investment costs in this project are estimated at €350 million.

The second project comprises a pre-feasibility study to build a new mega ammonia and urea plant with a capacity of 2,200 t/d and 3,400 t/d, respectively. This project would cost between €1.5 billion and €2 billion.

The third project aims to determine the quality of gas feedstock in fields discovered in 2018 off the west coast of Bahrain. If proven feasible and implemented, the gas projects would cost around €1.5 billion.

Maurizio Coratella, chief operating officer of Saipem’s Onshore E&C division, said the MoU with GPIC “marks a significant new opportunity in Saipem’s path towards the expansion and strengthening of its interests and relationships in this strategic area”.

GPIC president Abdulrahman Jawahery added that the agreement is part of the strengthening of economic relations between Bahrain and Italy, which aligns perfectly with GPIC’s strategic expansion plans.