Oil investments in Bahrain have recorded around $8 billion over the past few years, according to Bahrain’s Oil Minister, Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Zawya reported citing Gulf Daily News.

Al Khalifa said that Eni plans to start drilling the first oil exploratory well in the northern maritime block by year-end and early next year. Other blocks are still in the evaluation and survey phase after Eni signed an exploration and production sharing agreement with National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga).

It is worth noting that increasing oil investments paves the way for young Bahrainis to receive education, training, and qualification in the field of oil and gas, as they are key elements for the sector development in the future, the minister noted.

Furthermore, Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) has established an academy specializing in oil and gas to organize various practical programs and enable specialized innovative youth to graduate in the oil sector, Al Khalifa said.

The oil minister spoke during the inauguration of the ‘Creativity Corner’ of emerging industrial companies on the sidelines of the fifth Middle East Process Engineering Conference and Exhibition (MEPEC 2019).