(Bloomberg) -- Bahrain is scouting for investors in a key oil pipeline that transports crude from Saudi Arabia, according to people familiar with the matter, as the Gulf’s smallest economy looks to monetize energy assets.

The government could raise a few hundred million dollars from the stake sale, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. 

The pipeline can transport up to 350,000 barrels of oil per day and connects Saudi oil processing facilities at Abqaiq with the Bapco refinery in Bahrain. 

Representatives for Bahrain’s Bapco Energies, which manages the nation’s energy infrastructure including the pipeline, declined to comment. 

Bahrain was looking to hire advisers to help sell stakes in some of its oil and gas assets, Bloomberg News has previously reported. That’s part of the government’s efforts to open up an industry closed to foreign investments for decades.

The country’s energy industry isn’t the same scale as other Gulf states, but officials are seeking to follow a strategy similar to neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. 

Riyadh offered a stake in Aramco with an initial public offering in 2019, and then followed it up with selling leasing rights on some of its pipelines to investors. Abu Dhabi also sold a stake in Adnoc Oil Pipelines five years ago, though a firm based in the emirate recently bought back BlackRock Inc. and KKR & Co.’s holding in the business. 

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