Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), one of the largest US independents, has teamed up with Abu Dhabi owned investment arm Mubadala Development and Bahrain’s National Oil & Gas Authority (Noga) to develop a major oil and gas field in Bahrain. Tatweer Petroleum-Bahrain Field Development Company will serve as the operator for the Bahrain Field or Awali field under the Development and Production Sharing Agreement signed in April 2009.

Tatweer Petroleum will begin operating Bahrain immediately, Oxy said. Oil production from the field is expected to more than double to about 75,000 barrels per day (bpd) within five years and grow to a peak level of more than 100,000 bp thereafter.

“The development and production sharing agreement with Occidental and Mubadala represents a paradigm shift for the oil industry in Bahrain,” said Dr Abdul Hussain Bin Ali Mirza, minister of oil and gas affairs and chairman of Noga.

Khaldoon Khalifa Al-Mubarak, chief executive officer and managing director of Mubadala Development Company said the investment is aligned with Mubadala Oil and Gas’s ambition to include enhanced oil recovery (EOR) projects in the region.

Under the terms of the production agreement, Oxy holds a 48% stake, while Mubadala has 32%. The Bahrain authority holds the remainder. Dr Ray R. Irani, chairman and chief executive officer of Occidental said: “Tatweer Petroleum further expands our presence in the region and is a key element of our growth strategy for the Middle East.”

Tatweer Petroleum is largely comprised of individuals from the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco), in addition to employees from Oxy and Mubadala. The company also plans to hire additional local employees.