Bapco holds official inauguration of new base oil plant

The Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) and Nogaholding celebrated the official opening of their new joint base oil plant in Bahrain on November 29. The companies started up commercial production at the facility in October. The plant has a capacity of 400,000 tons per annum and is located at Bapco’s refinery on Bahrain’s east coast. Neste Oil is responsible for selling and marketing the plant’s output, which consists of VHVI (Very High Viscosity Index) Group III base oil used in premium-quality lubricants. Finland’s Neste Oil owns 45% of the joint venture and contributed €130 million (US$174.6 million) of the plant’s capital costs. His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al-Khalifa, the prime minister of Bahrain, was present at the inauguration, as well as Neste Oil President and CEO Matti Lievonen and Matti Lehmus, the company’s executive vice president, Oil Products & Renewables. “Demand for high-performance base oil is growing all the time, and thanks to the new plant we will be able to serve our customers even more effectively and grow our base oil business in line with our strategy,” says Lievonen. (November 30, 2011)