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Agreement Approved for Italy’s Eni to Explore, Invest in Bahrain Bay Oilfield

The Shura Council in Bahrain approved an agreement between the NOGA and Eni for oil exploration and production. (Reuters)
The Shura Council in Bahrain approved an agreement between the NOGA and Eni for oil exploration and production. (Reuters)
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Agreement Approved for Italy’s Eni to Explore, Invest in Bahrain Bay Oilfield

The Shura Council in Bahrain approved an agreement between the NOGA and Eni for oil exploration and production. (Reuters)
The Shura Council in Bahrain approved an agreement between the NOGA and Eni for oil exploration and production. (Reuters)

The Shura Council, or Consultative Council, in Bahrain approved Sunday an agreement between the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) and Italian firm Eni for oil exploration and production.

The move will kick off investment in the explored reserves of oil and gas in Bahrain Bay oilfield.

The Council of Representatives of Bahrain had in November approved the agreement.

Manama plans to drill the first exploratory well during the first quarter of 2020, given that the Kingdom is facing a mounting demand for gas. Estimates show that the demand for gas doubled with the launch of new industrial projects.

Bahrain had announced in April 2018 the discovery of the Bay oilfield, which boasts the Kingdom’s largest gas and oil reserves, estimated at around 80 billion barrels of oil and 20 trillion cubic meters of gas.

In 2018, Bahrain launched a fund to invest in energy with an initial capital of around one billion dollars in participation with world, Gulf and Bahraini institutions. The fund will invest in funding energy projects that require 3-5 years to reach the production phase.

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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
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ECB's Lagarde Renews Integration Call as Trade War Looms

FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo
FILE PHOTO: European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and Governor of the Bank of Finland Olli Rehn arrive at the non-monetary policy meeting of the ECB's Governing Council in Inari, Finnish Lapland, Finland February 22, 2023. Lehtikuva/Tarmo Lehtosalo via REUTERS//File Photo

European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde renewed her call for economic integration across Europe on Friday, arguing that intensifying global trade tensions and a growing technology gap with the United States create fresh urgency for action.
US President-elect Donald Trump has promised to impose tariffs on most if not all imports and said Europe would pay a heavy price for having run a large trade surplus with the US for decades.
"The geopolitical environment has also become less favorable, with growing threats to free trade from all corners of the world," Lagarde said in a speech, without directly referring to Trump.
"The urgency to integrate our capital markets has risen."
While Europe has made some progress, EU members tend to water down most proposals to protect vested national interests to the detriment of the bloc as a whole, Reuters quoted Lagarde as saying.
But this is taking hundreds of billions if not trillions of euros out of the economy as households are holding 11.5 trillion euros in cash and deposits, and much of this is not making its way to the firms that need the funding.
"If EU households were to align their deposit-to-financial assets ratio with that of US households, a stock of up to 8 trillion euros could be redirected into long-term, market-based investments – or a flow of around 350 billion euros annually," Lagarde said.
When the cash actually enters the capital market, it often stays within national borders or leaves for the US in hope of better returns, Lagarde added.
Europe therefore needs to reduce the cost of investing in capital markets and must make the regulatory regime easier for cash to flow to places where it is needed the most.
A solution might be to create an EU-wide regulatory regime on top of the 27 national rules and certain issuers could then opt into this framework.
"To bypass the cumbersome process of regulatory harmonization, we could envisage a 28th regime for issuers of securities," Lagarde said. "They would benefit from a unified corporate and securities law, facilitating cross-border placement, holding and settlement."
Still, that would not solve the problem that few innovative companies set up shop in Europe, partly due to the lack of funding. So Europe must make it easier for investment to flow into venture capital and for banks to fund startups, she said.