(June 24, 2010)

 Bapco has recently achieved Associate Membership of the Lifting Equipment Engineers Association (LEEA), effective January 1, 2010.

 This achievement was possible thanks to the efforts of employees in Rigging Services Section, including Manager and Superintendent for their continued support, and in particular Specialist - Lifting Equipment Rod Towns, and Supervisor Lifting Equipment Sayed Khalil S. Ebrahim, whose two years successful hard work ensured Bapco’s progression from Provisional Member to Associate Member - the highest achievable category.

 With this achievement Bapco becomes the first refinery in the Middle East to attain the status of Associate Member of LEEA. This was accomplished by successfully undergoing and passing a strenuous technical audit, in addition to assisting in forming a Middle East Chapter of the LEEA.

 Bapco now has an opportunity to not only share its own safety accomplishments in this particular discipline, but to actually influence, with LEEA’s help, the level of professionalism and skills required to attain and maintain standards that will be recognised worldwide.

 Bapco can benefit from this alliance in the following ways:

· Bapco can have an internationally-recognised trained workforce for the inspection of lifting equipment which can only further enhance the Company’s safety record.

· Bapco can have an input through LEEA as to what standards the Company should be working to.

· Should the Bahraini Government rule that all lifting inspection bodies must have LEEA-trained and certified inspectors, Bapco may be able to dispense with third-party inspection agencies for lifting equipment.

 LEEA was established in the U.K. in 1944, and in recent years has expanded rapidly into the international arena. There are 328 documented member organisations in 38 different countries to date, with numbers ever increasing.

 The examination and certification schemes run by the LEEA ensure that lifting equipment engineers become expert in the testing and inspection of lifting equipment, and with the examinations being organised at Diploma level, the future workforce becomes professionally trained and internationally recognised.

 Members can now also draw on expert impartial advice on all aspects of safe and legal lifting, and through regular bulletins the LEEA keeps members abreast of all the latest developments in the lifting industry. These range from warnings regarding dangerous equipment through to advice on the implications of new standards and regulations.

 This is a professional achievement by Bapco to be proud of, and provides further evidence of Bapco’s solid commitment to maintaining and improving its safety standards as it continually strives for excellence.