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Bahrain's Bapco Finalizes Financing of Modernization Program

Sky view of Bahrain's capital, Manama, Asharq Al-Awsat
Sky view of Bahrain's capital, Manama, Asharq Al-Awsat
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Bahrain's Bapco Finalizes Financing of Modernization Program

Sky view of Bahrain's capital, Manama, Asharq Al-Awsat
Sky view of Bahrain's capital, Manama, Asharq Al-Awsat

The Bahrain Petroleum Company announced on Sunday reaching financial closure on its multi-billion-dollar Bapco Modernization Program (BMP) with 21 banks and credit agencies.

Estimated to cost around $4.1 billion, the BMP is set to expand what is considered one of the oldest refineries in the Arabian Gulf region.

Implementing a project of the strategic scale of BMP, scheduled to be completed in 2022, is guaranteed to effectively contribute to sustainable development efforts in Bahrain.

Under the program, the oil refinery connecting Bahrain and Saudi Arabia has been upgraded to boost pipeline delivery capacity from 260,000 bpd to 350,000 bpd.

BMP represents a major turning point for Bapco, which will not only boost its refining capacity, but also enhance its products in terms of quantity, quality and energy efficiency.

Bapco is one of the major oil companies in the region in terms of competitiveness and compliance with environmental standards.

Bapco has contracted with five credit agencies and 21 banks, which included several local and international, commercial and Islamic banks, to finance the mega project. Financing was formally secured on December 20 last year with BNP Paribas, HSBC Middle East and Verus Partners acting as financial advisers to help Bapco meet the conditions required successfully to close the financing process.

The foundation stone for the project was laid in March this year during a ceremony held under the patronage of Bahraini Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and in the presence of Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Premier.

Bapco board director and chairman of BMP Steering Committee Dawood Nassif expressed delight at reaching the financial close of the vital Bahrain project.

Oil Minister Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Khalifa lauded efforts exerted by the Bapco team to achieve the financial close.

Given the size and scale of the BMP, the program is perceived as a mutually beneficial conclusion for a wide variety of partners from across the globe because it means we can provide a wider product offering and meet higher demand from customers.

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US Labor Market Slows Despite Job Adds in May

Commuters cross Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, during the morning rush hour. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)
Commuters cross Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, during the morning rush hour. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)
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US Labor Market Slows Despite Job Adds in May

Commuters cross Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, during the morning rush hour. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)
Commuters cross Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, during the morning rush hour. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)

The United States added 139,000 jobs in May, more than expected but pointing to a labor market that continues to slow.

The employment data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics exceeded forecasts for about 120,000 payroll gains but marked a decline from the revised 147,000 jobs added in April. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%, remaining near historic lows.

Stocks surged at Friday's open, with all three major indexes gaining about 1%.

In return, US government borrowing costs climbed as investors anticipated the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates higher for longer, making it less attractive to hold US debt.

The BLS report showed job losses in the federal government continued to pile up, with that sector shedding 22,000 roles in May alone.

The federal workforce is down by 59,000 since January, largely due to sweeping cuts by the Trump administration and multibillionaire tech executive Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency project.

Even as the economy continued to add jobs at a relatively steady clip last month, the report showed other signs of a weakening labor market.

The ratio of employed workers to the total population fell to 59.7%, its lowest since the pandemic.

An alternative measure of unemployment that includes “discouraged” workers, or those who have stopped looking for work, returned to a post-pandemic high of 4.5%.

But President Donald Trump cheered the numbers, posting on his Truth Social platform Friday morning: “AMERICA IS HOT! SIX MONTHS AGO IT WAS COLD AS ICE! BORDER IS CLOSED, PRICES ARE DOWN. WAGES ARE UP!”

Trump had urged Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to slash interest rates by a full percentage point.

“Too Late' at the Fed is a disaster!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

In reality, employers added 212,000 jobs in November, unemployment was at 4.1%, the 12-month average of hourly pay gains have softened from nearly 4.2% then to 3.9% in May, and both the labor force participation rate and the employment-to-population ratio were slightly higher.

Only consumer prices have meaningfully cooled, ticking down from an annual inflation rate of 2.7% in November to 2.3% in April, the latest month with available data.

Analysts at Capital Economics called the May jobs report “not as good as it looks.”

Still, they wrote in a note Friday, “it shows that tariffs are having little negative impact” and added that the Federal Reserve is likely to continue holding interest rates steady “while it assesses the effects of policy changes on the economy.”