KPC TO INVEST USD 90BN, HIKE OUTPUT

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is planning an outlay of USD 90 billion in the next five years to boost oil production capacity to four million barrels a day by 2020, a senior executive said.

Kuwait has a crude production capacity of around 3.3mln barrels a day now.

The USD 90bln is meant for oil investments abroad, including refineries in Vietnam and China, upgrading the tanker fleet as well as projects to achieve the 2020 production target. Petrovietnam, Vietnam’s second largest refinery is setting up a 200,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery at Nghi Son, 215km south of Hanoi. The project is a joint venture with Kuwait Petroleum International, Japan’s Idemitsu Kosan and Mitsui Chemicals.

Kuwait Oil Company is also planning heavy oil production in fiscal 2015/2016 at a rate of 60,000 barrels per day, chairman Sami Al Rushaid said. He said KOC will increase crude output to 3.65mln bpd by 2020 from around 3mln bpd now. The remaining 350,000 bpd will come from the zone now held jointly with Saudi Arabia.

Kuwait produces 1bln cubic feet of associated gas and around 140m cubic feet of non-associated gas every day.

OPEC on the other hand is also planning for expand capacity. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company of UAE, the world’s third largest oil exporter said that it plans to invest USD 60 BN in the next five years for developing oil and gas fields.

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