KUWAIT, 19 May 2005 — Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC) said on Tuesday its long-term upstream and downstream development projects will require an investment of 16.2 billion dinars ($55 billion) over the next two decades.
“KPC plans to increase production capacity to 4 million bpd by 2020 from the current output of over 2 million bpd. The company currently refines almost 1 million bpd,” said KPC Chief Executive Officer Hani Hussain.
“In order to meet this production capacity, substantial investments will be required. The plans will require active cooperation of the private sector and international contractors,” he told a conference organized by Middle East Economic Digest (MEED).
KPC is in charge of the upstream and downstream sectors in OPEC nation Kuwait which controls nearly a tenth of global petroleum reserves.
Hussain said KPC’s other energy development plan “is securing natural gas imports from neighboring countries in order to satisfy Kuwait’s future energy demand, especially in the electricity production sector. “Negotiations with Iran, Qatar and Iraq are being pursued.”
The talks with Iran have gone a long way and may be completed this year, added Hussain. He said KPC had approved the building of a second LPG canister filling plant which would be commissioned in 2008 to meet growth in demand for LPG.
“Land has been allocated and bidding for construction should take place later this year,” he added.
Hussain said a proposed new refinery would primarily supply low sulfur fuel oil to Kuwait’s plants. But with the expected import of natural gas into Kuwait, this refinery would be upgraded to an export refinery later, he added. The refinery is expected to be onstream by 2010.
Kuwait has a multi-billion-dollar plan, dubbed Project Kuwait, that aims to hike output from four northern fields with the help of international oil firms. The plan has been under discussion for years and still awaits parliament’s okay.
Other projects under consideration, Hussain said, include the expansion of crude export facilities, building a new oil gathering centre in northern Kuwait, installation of a new booster station, water injection and gas lift facilities in northern Kuwait and upgrading the onshore Khafji crude facilities.
Hussain said KPC’s strategic plans include creating viable investment opportunities for the private sector.
This has resulted in the establishment of a new company to assist in the privatization of fuel marketing by running some of the state’s local fuel stations. The company would own and operate 40 gasoline stations in Kuwait.
Hussain said Al-Qurain, a private sector company, now owns 6 percent in EQUATE Petrochemical Co., a joint venture between Kuwait and Dow Chemical Co., and Olefins II, another petrochemicals project that builds on EQUATE, as well as 20 percent in an aromatics firm and 11 percent of a styrene producer. He added that an agreement was recently signed for full transfer of Coke Calciner Project to the private sector.