New figures from the oil and gas industry in Bahrain show it to have a higher percentage of nationalised workers than any other sector in the country.

Highlighting the ongoing drive to educate and train domestic workers, the new statistics from the National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga) reveal that 85 per cent of workers in the oil and gas industry are Bahraini nationals.

For example, of the 3,212 employees working for the government-owned Bapco, 2,679 are now Bahraini nationals, equivalent to 83 per cent.

This stands in comparison to the 79 per cent recorded at the end of 2006 and comes on the back of investment in education training in the four major petroleum and gas companies growing by 25 per cent.

Noga chairman and the country's oil minister Dr Abdulhussain Mirza welcomes the new figures, explaining that the increased Bahrainisation is an indicator of the ongoing success of training and development programmes being carried out across the country.

"The 85 per cent is regarded the highest when compared with other sectors in Bahrain and the GCC [Gulf countries]," he added.