Bahrain follows the trend of other Gulf countries, including strong economic growth, worrisome inflation, and a vision towards economic diversification to non-oil sectors. The strength of Bahrain’s economy comes from continued price increases of oil. Price rises in the commodity brought the government’s budget from the red in 2005, at a deficit of $556.3 million, to a surplus of $686 million. Rigorous diversification efforts have lowered Bahrain’s dependence on oil, relative to other GCC economies, but oil price rises have blurred the contributions of non-oil sectors to the economy. In addition to oil production, Bahrain plans to maintain its place as a regional refiner of crude oil. According to the Oxford Business Group (OBG), “currently, Bahrain’s sole refinery has a capacity to process 250,000 barrels per day (BPD), though less than 20% of this comes from the kingdom’s own fields, with the vast majority of crude coming from nearby Saudi
