Tight could prove right for Bahrain

The recent discovery of offshore shale oil and gas deposits could be a welcome energy boost for Bahrain—or remain tantalisingly beyond reach

The small kingdom has the distinction of being the first Gulf state to make an oil discovery—back in 1932. The intervening period has been less exciting in oil terms, only able to pump just below 50,000 barrels a day of its own oil. Most of its 150,000-b/d output is effectively gifted by Saudi Arabia from the Abu Safah field and refined on the island. Lacking the hydrocarbon heft of its larger Gulf neighbours, the authorities have spent recent months publicly touting the "epoch-making" nature of its shale oil discovery, first announced in early April. Confidence levels seem high. Bahrain has just launched commemorative postage stamp to mark the occasion of the discovery, which could contain