Planned since March 2007, the project has now been deemed economically unfeasible by Bahrain Petroleum Company and its partners, Saudi Arabia based Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation, Bahrain’s Holding Company for Oil & Gas and Kuwait’s Independent Petroleum Group.

As many as 17 engineering firms were already pre qualified to bid on the engineering, procurement and construction contract covering the construction of the facilities which was worth an estimated USD 150 million. Although the shareholders have met several times since April with the intention of making a final investment decision on the project to build a 625,000 cubic meter crude oil trading terminal, they have been at loggerheads over the technical proposals. Tenders were due to be launched in June 2010 if approved. Since then, shareholders had been unable to make a decision on progressing with the scheme. Shareholders have now decided to drop the project. Front end engineering and design work was carried out by Singapore based Audex while an initial feasibility study for the project was carried out by the UAE’s Emirates National Oil Company along with Apicorp and IPG.

Despite scrapping the storage and export scheme at Sitra, Bahrain is moving ahead with plans for USD 2 billion upgrade to the Sitra refinery as well as a new pipeline which will connect it to crude oil supplies from Saudi Arabia. Studies are currently being conducted by BAPCO and US consultant, Chevron Lummus Global.