Kuwait Announces Massive Offshore Oil and Gas Discovery

One of the Middle East’s largest oil producers, Kuwait, announced on Sunday a “huge” discovery of oil and associated gas in an offshore field east of Failaka Island. 

Preliminary estimates have shown that reserves at the Al-Noukhitha offshore field could be about 3.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent of light oil and gas, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said during a meeting with the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. 

Reserves could be 2.1 billion barrels of light oil and 5.1 trillion standard cubic feet of gas, all of which amount to a total of 3.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), the government entity responsible for exploration and production, said in a statement to Kuwaiti news agency KUNA.

Early estimates suggest that the field has “huge potential” to reveal additional quantities in various layers and reservoirs at the field, according to KOC. 

Kuwait plans to draw up plans to begin extracting resources from the field as soon as possible, the company said. 

Kuwait, which began exporting crude oil in 1946, currently produces around 2.4 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude, as it is capping output together with its partners in the OPEC+ deal-OPEC and a dozen non-OPEC producers led by Russia. 

Kuwait, a founding member of OPEC, is the cartel’s fifth-largest producer, behind Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).  

Kuwait aims to boost its oil production capacity to 4 million bpd by 2035, up from just above 3 million bpd now, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s chief executive Sheikh Nawaf Al Sabah said earlier this year. 

Kuwait also looks to boost its capacity to process heavier grades domestically, leaving more volumes of the more expensive lighter crudes for exports. 

Last year, Kuwait began curbing its sour crude exports as its new 615,000-barrels-per-day refinery Al-Zour started ramping up operations.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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