Air Emissions

Air emissions refers to the release of gases into the atmosphere that occur as the result of our activities. Through our energy efficiency initiatives and renewable energy generation we aim to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, therefore lower our impact on global warming.

We closely monitor all Refinery emissions for regulatory compliance and to understand our total environmental footprint

GRI 103-01, 103-02, 103-03: Management approach

We prepare an annual GHG inventory report to determine our carbon footprint. Our Refinery includes many important energy saving technologies that help to further reduce our GHG emissions. We have improved the energy efficiency of our Refinery heaters, replacing three old heaters with a single higher efficiency heater at a cost of US$26.5 million. Our Low Sulphur Fuel Oil complex captures up to 200 tonnes per day of CO2, from the No. 1 Hydrogen Plant waste gases, and routes it to a plant operated and owned by a third party for reuse. Our solar project, with solar installations in use across our sites, makes a significant contribution to renewable energy and is the first of its type in Bahrain. We also contribute to carbon emissions offset through our Mangrove Nursery and planting project, and by maintaining the Princess Sabeeka Park at Awali.

GRI 305-01: Direct (Scope 1) GHG emissions

Bapco has been recording its Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions since 2014 to support the compilation of the Bapco annual GHG inventory report. Scope 1 emissions refers to direct emissions from assets owned by or controlled by the company, such as process units and company vehicles. The methodology used to prepare the Scope 1 and 2 GHG emission data is based on the 2006 IPCC guidelines, the IPCC inventory software (version 2.691, January 2020), IPIECA petroleum industry guidelines for reporting greenhouse gas emissions (2011) and the API compendium of greenhouse gas emissions methodologies for the oil and natural gas industry.

GRI 305-02: Direct (Scope 2) GHG emissions

Scope 2 GHG emissions refer to indirect emissions from energy consumption that are a consequence of asset activities, but which occur at companies outside of the organisational boundary, e.g. emissions attributed to electricity imported for operation of the Refinery and other facilities.

GRI 305-03: Other indirect (Scope 3) GHG emissions

Scope 3 GHG emissions refer to all other indirect emissions that result from a company’s activities that are not Scope 2 emissions (e.g. contracted transport). Bapco currently does not report on Scope 3 emissions but will keep under review for future reports.

GRI 305-04: GHG emissions intensity

Bapco estimates its emissions intensity in tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) per unit of Utilised Distillation Equivalent Capacity (UEDC), the latter a standardised measure of Refinery throughput.

GRI 305-05: Reduction of GHG emissions

Bapco’s initiatives for energy reduction listed under 302-04 will be the main driver for GHG emissions reduction. Bapco has additionally improved the performance of several Refinery units, giving the following calculated reductions:

• 7,000 tonnes of CO2/year by improving the performance of the fired heaters;

• 26,000 tonnes of CO2/year by replacing 5 crude distillation unit and 3 older low efficiency fired heaters with a single high efficiency heater; and

• 40,000 tonnes of CO2/year by recovering the CO2 from the hydrogen plant and re-routing the gas for use by a third party.

In addition, Bapco’s community projects have had an positive impact on the GHG emissions reduction:

• 2,504 tonnes CO2/year calculated from Princess Sabeeka Park;

• 7.7 tonnes CO2/year from the Eker garden rehabilitation; and

• 3000 tonnes CO2/year from the 5MWp BDSEPP

GRI 305-06: Emissions of ozone-depleting substances (ODS)

Since 2020, Bapco has recharged or replaced all refrigeration and air conditioning equipment containing R-12, substituting with refrigerants that have a low ozone depletion potential (R-22) or no ozone depletion potential (R-410a and R-407C).

Emissions of ODS (metric tonnes of CFC-11)

GRI 305-07: Nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx), and other significant air emissions

Unit shutdowns during 2020 led to a temporary increase in our SOx emissions, recorded in the table below. During the 2021 reporting period there were no shutdowns impacting SOx emissions, which therefore returned to levels similar to previous years.

SO x and NO x quantities are estimated from heater duties and assume excess oxygen. Empirical formulas are used in calculation.

Refer to the graph below for the normalised quantity of SOx and NO x emissions per total crude throughput.