Kuwait has discovered a new oil and gas field in Kabed area close to the well-known Manageesh oilfield, Hashem Sayed Hashem, CEO of state-owned Kuwait Oil Co said.
Hashem gave no estimates of the reserves in the field located in western Kuwait, but told the official KUNA news agency that more details would be released at a later date.
OPEC member Kuwait is pumping around 3 million barrels per day of oil and says it has about 100 billion barrels of crude reserves, although the figure had been questioned in the past.
The emirate has earmarked around $100 billion to be invested over the next five years on several oil projects like building a large refinery and upgrading two existing ones.
The investment is part of a long-term plan aimed at boosting oil production capacity to 4 million bpd by 2020.
As a member of OPEC, Kuwait was the world's 10th largest oil producer in 2012. Despite having the second smallest land area among the OPEC member countries, Kuwait exports the third largest volume of oil.
Kuwait holds the world's sixth largest oil reserves and is one of the top 10 global producers and exporters of total petroleum liquids.
According to Oil & Gas Journal, as of January 2013, Kuwait's territorial boundaries contained an estimated 102 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, roughly 6 percent of the world total. Kuwait ranked sixth in terms of oil reserves among all countries in 2012. Additional reserves are held in the Partitioned Neutral Zone (PNZ), which Kuwait shares on a 50-50 basis with Saudi Arabia. The Neutral Zone holds an additional 5 billion barrels of proven reserves, bringing Kuwait's total oil reserves to 104 billion barrels.
Kuwait's economy is heavily dependent on petroleum export revenues, accounting for nearly half of its gross domestic product and nearly 70 percent of export revenues. EIA estimates these revenues were 75 billion dollars in 2012. Kuwait should remain one of the world's top oil producers as the country pushes towards a target of 4 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of production capacity by 2020.
In an effort to diversify its oil-heavy economy, Kuwait has expanded efforts to develop its non-associated natural gas fields, which remain a small portion of its natural gas production. Greater production of gas can provide fuel for electricity generation which frequently falls short during periods of peak electricity demand.
Energy policy is set by the Supreme Petroleum Council, overseen by the Ministry of Petroleum, and executed by The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation and its various subsidiaries.
The Saudi Gazette
16 July
