据5月17日彭博社报道，随着巴林石油产量下滑，这家波斯湾最小的石油生产国正转向进口天然气，以满足日益增长的能源需求。

管理巴林石油和天然气基础设施的Nogaholding首席执行官马克?托马斯(Mark Thomas)表示，巴林计划在2025年进口至少五到六批液化天然气。他表示，该国可能在2023年接收一批液化天然气，以测试其基础设施，并计划在2024年购买3至5批货物，以满足夏季月份飙升的需求。

沙特阿拉伯和阿联酋等中东石油生产国正在投入数十亿美元，为其不断扩张的化工和工业部门寻找新的天然气资源。作为欧佩克第一大和第三大产油国，其日产量分别可达1200万桶和400万桶。巴林相较于它们而言是很小的产量，不过，在发展新的依赖天然气的工业以促进增长时，都面临着类似问题。

周一，托马斯在中东石油天然气会议上接受采访时表示，巴林正处于“供需临界点”，除非这个岛国能够开发新资源，否则不断下降的产量将难以跟上消费步伐。托马斯表示，巴林正与两家国际石油公司合作勘探海上非常规气田，但他没有透露合作伙伴名字。

Nogaholding正在寻找一名独立财务顾问，以评估该国石油业务债务结构，并决定是否出售资产来筹集资金。

巴林能源部长在同一次会议上表示，政府将决定一项战略，帮助为巴林工业进一步扩张提供资金。此前，沙特出售了国有石油生产商沙特阿美(Aramco)股票，阿布扎比将其部分石油资产上市。

巴林表示，“自从沙特阿美进行IPO以来，所有事情都被摆在了桌面上，作为增加资本来源的一种手段。作为政府，我们还没有决定采取任何行动，这个问题已经摆在了明面上。该计划将扩大我们为化工厂等项目融资的能力，相信各种项目将在未来5年看到曙光”。

王佳晶 摘译自 彭博社

原文如下：

Gulf’s Smallest Oil Producer Looks to Gas imports to Meet Demand

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The smallest oil producer in the Persian Gulf is turning to natural gas imports to meet rising energy demand as production from its own deposits slips.

Bahrain plans to import at least five or six cargoes of liquefied natural gas in 2025, according to Mark Thomas, chief executive officer of Nogaholding, which manages the country’s oil and gas infrastructure. The country may take a cargo of LNG in 2023 to test its infrastructure and plans to buy three to five cargoes in 2024 to meet surging demand during the summer months, he said.

Middle Eastern oil producers like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are ploughing billions of dollars into finding new gas resources for their expanding chemical and industrial sectors. As OPEC’s first and third-largest producers they can pump as much as 12 million and 4 million barrels a day, respectively. Bahrain is just a fraction of that and faces similar problems as it develops new, gas-dependent industries to bolster growth.

Bahrain is at the “tipping point between supply and demand” as declining output will struggle to keep up with consumption unless the island nation can develop new resources, Thomas said in an interview Monday at the Middle East Petroleum Gas Conference. Bahrain is working with two international oil companies on exploration of unconventional offshore gas fields, said Thomas, without identifying the partners.

Nogaholding is seeking an independent financial adviser to review the debt structure of the country’s oil businesses and to determine whether to sell assets to raise funds.

Bahrain’s energy minister, speaking at the same conference, said the government would decide on a strategy to help fund further expansion of industry in Bahrain. That comes after Saudi Arabia sold shares in state producer Aramco and Abu Dhabi listed some of its oil assets.

“Since Aramco did the IPO, everything’s been on the table as a means of increasing the capital sources,” said Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Bin Ahmed. “We haven’t decided as a government yet to do anything, it’s on the table.” The plans will expand “our ability to finance our projects like chemical plants and various projects will see the light in the next five years.”