Oil and gas revenues drop by 12% in 2024

TDT | Manama

Email: mail@newsofbahrain.com

Oil and gas revenues dropped by 12 per cent last year, falling to BD1.818 billion, according to preliminary government figures.

That’s a shortfall of BD217 million compared to 2023, when prices averaged around $84 a barrel.

The government said the decline was linked to shifts in global markets and lower returns from exports. In 2023, total revenues from oil and gas stood at roughly BD2.035 billion.

Subsidies

At the same time, subsidies to keep fuel and gas prices steady at home reached BD317 million.

That’s the cost the state says it paid to stop prices climbing for drivers and households.

Even so, prices at the pump remain among the lowest in the Gulf.

Second

Bahrain comes second only to Kuwait for octane 91 fuel, priced at 140 fils per litre. Across the GCC, prices for this grade range as follows: Kuwait 105 fils, Bahrain 140 fils, Qatar 212 fils, Saudi Arabia 219 fils, Oman 224 fils, and the UAE 260 fils.

For Mumtaz (octane 95), Bahrain sits in the middle of the pack, charging 200 fils.

The rest range from Kuwait’s 130 fils up to the UAE’s 267 fils.

The government added that expats account for a large slice of fuel consumption.

About 58 per cent of driving licences are held by non-Bahrainis, a fact which it says pushes up the cost of indirect subsidies.

As for what people are putting in their tanks, the cheaper Jayyed (octane-91) grade made up 76 per cent of total consumption in 2024.

The rest — just under a quarter — was Mumtaz.