Bahrain Island, the largest of the 33 islands that make up the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an archipelago.
Approximately 80% of Bahrain’s 770 square kilometer land area is made up of the island.
Near the eastern coast of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it is located in the midst of the Arabian Gulf between latitudes 25.32 and 26.20 north and longitudes 50.20 and 50.50 east.
One of the smallest countries in Asia is Bahrain. It extends over 300 square miles.
Bahrain’s economy is one of the world’s strongest despite being relatively tiny.
The majority of Bahrain’s island is made up of rocky limestone terrain covered in dry sand dunes.
Among the natural resources in Bahrain are oil, gas, and fisheries.
Oil was first discovered in the region in Bahrain in 1932, and refinery activities started there in 1936.
It has been shown that oil reserves at the end of 2012 were projected to be 120 million barrels. 0.02% of the oil reserves in the Arab world and 0.01% of global oil reserves.
Its natural gas reserves were pegged at 92 billion cubic meters. 0.05% of global reserves and 0.17 percent of Arab reserves
Through eight firms, most notably the 1929-founded Bahrain Petroleum Company Bapco, Bahrain is boosting its production of oil, gas, and petrochemicals as well as expanding its energy resource exploration.
In 1968, a group of foreign investors selected Bahrain as the location for the construction of a smelter so they could meet their needs for aluminum metal due to the availability of natural gas.
The Bahrain Aluminum Factory is one of the biggest smelters in the world and was founded as the Aluminum Bahrain Company (Alba) in August of 1968.
Table of Contents
Top 5 Natural Resources in Bahrain
Below are the top 5 natural resources in Bahrain
1. Arable Land
One of Bahrain’s most important natural resources in the past was arable land.
Almost 25 square kilometers of Bahraini territory were used for agriculture during the colonial era.
The area used for agriculture fell to about 6 square miles when the country earned its independence.
Most of the country’s productive agricultural land is owned by the Bahraini Royal Family.
According to estimates from the Bahraini labor department, the agriculture sector employed about 1% of Bahrain’s labor force in 2004.
Dates were the most significant crop in the nation before oil was discovered there.
The nation produced enough dates to meet domestic demand, and the extra was exported to other countries.
Agriculturists in the nation claim that Bahrain’s environment is ideal for growing more than 20 different varieties of dates.
Other date tree components, such as the blossoms, buds, and leaves, were also utilized in addition to the fruit.
Due to a number of factors, date farming significantly decreased in the middle of the 20th century.
The alteration in Bahrainis’ eating habits was the most significant element.
The country’s decreased ability to irrigate dates with water was another factor that contributed to a loss in date production.
2. Livestock
One of Bahrain’s most valuable natural resources is livestock. Cattle, camels, sheep, and goats are just a few of the species that Bahraini livestock farmers raise.
Pigs are not raised by livestock producers in Bahrain because it is a Muslim nation.
Bahrain must rely on imports from other nations to meet local demand despite the country’s existence of a livestock sector.
The implementation of artificial insemination is one of the initiatives the Bahraini government has implemented to boost the number of animals within its borders.
The UN and the Bahraini government collaborated to launch the artificial insemination program.
3. Fish
Bahrain has an abundance of fishing resources because it is an island country.
Most Bahrainis eat a lot of fish as part of their diet. More than 200 different species of fish can be found in Bahrain’s territorial waters, according to many specialists.
The majority of Bahrain’s young men relied heavily on fishing as a source of income before the country’s oil boom.
Bahraini young men were engaged in pearling in addition to fishing. Due to their superior quality, Bahraini pearls used to be known all over the world.
The oil sector, which drew the majority of young Bahraini males, and fierce rivalry from the Japanese pearl business were the main causes of Bahrain’s pearl industry’s demise.
Less than 1,000 Bahraini fishers were found in the nation’s territorial waters in the 1970s, according to historical statistics.
Even though there were fewer fishermen, there was a huge increase in demand for fish throughout the nation.
The government implemented many initiatives to revive the industry in response to Bahrain’s rising demand for fish, including providing fishers with training and storage facilities for their catch.
4. Metals
Bahrain, which has the second-largest aluminum smelter in the world, generates more than 2% of the aluminum used globally.
With operations starting in 1971, Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) now has an annual capacity of more than 1.5 million metric tonnes.
Bahrain is also home to a number of factories that use imported raw materials to make a variety of iron and steel products, including raw steel, stainless steel, steel reinforcing bars, direct-reduced iron, iron ore, and iron pellets.
Ferromanganese and silicomanganese, two ferroalloys that are widely utilized in the manufacture of steel, are manufactured in Bahrain.
These goods meet local needs and are also sold to GCC and international downstream markets.
A number of iron and steel products, as well as ferroalloys required in the production of steel, are also produced in Bahrain.
A major supplier of iron-ore pellets used in the manufacture of steel is Bahrain Steel BSCEE (Foulath Holding B.S.C.).
In the Kingdom of Bahrain, it runs two pelletizing facilities with an annual capacity of 11.0 million tonnes.
5. Oil and Gas
Bahrain does not have a significant oil resource base, unlike the majority of countries in the Persian Gulf.
With only about 124 million barrels of oil in its reserves, Bahrain has some of the lowest levels in the area.
On the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf, Bahrain was the first country where an oil well was established.
The well was installed and managed by the Bahrain Petroleum Company. It began producing 9,600 barrels per day of oil in 1932 when it was first filled with it.
The production significantly rose in the years that followed, reaching a peak of around 70,000 barrels per day in the 1970s.
The oil well produced about 35,000 barrels per day in the 1980s.
The Bahraini government is primarily responsible for expanding the oil and gas industry in the modern age.
Approximately 86% of Bahrain’s overall revenue, according to government estimates, comes from the oil and gas industry.
The Abu Safa field, which is situated within Bahrain’s territorial waters and currently produces about 300,000 barrels of oil daily, is the country’s most significant oil field.
The field is currently owned by Saudi Aramco, a foreign business, although the Bahraini government receives 50% of the profits.
The Awali oil field is Bahrain’s other significant oil field. When it produced 56,000 barrels of oil per day in June 2015, the Awali field was operating at its maximum capacity.
The Bahraini government reported that the country identified a deposit with notably substantial gas and oil resources in 2018.
According to the research, the field may hold 80 billion barrels of oil and at least 10 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The find was the biggest in Bahrain’s recorded history.
List of all Natural Resources in Bahrain
Below is the list of all natural resources in Bahrain
- Oil
- Natural Gas
- Fish
- Pearl
- Aluminum
- Livestock
- Arable land
- Coal
- Forest.
Conclusion
The main natural resources in Bahrain are non-renewable resources but, it is good to note that the country has diversified by using the wealth gotten from these non-renewable resources to make their community a tourist site.
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A passion-driven environmentalist by heart. Lead content writer at EnvironmentGo.
I strive to educate the public about the environment and its problems.
It has always been about nature, we ought to protect not destroy.