KUWAIT CITY: OPEC member Kuwait has boosted its oil production capacity to three million barrels per day and aims to raise it to four million by 2020, a top oil executive said yesterday.

“We have the capability to reach three million (bpd). We are targeting the four million (bpd) by 2020,” CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corp. Saad Al-Shuwayeb told reporters on the sidelines of an energy forum. Kuwait’s previously published production capacity was 2.7 million bpd. “Of course, some projects will be affected,” Al-Shuwayeb said when asked if the Gulf state plans to change its long-term oil strategy in light of the global economic meltdown.

“However, the main projects that affect the production capabilities in the future ... definitely we are not changing,” he said. Based on the plan, the Gulf state also aims to raise its crude output capacity to 3.5 million bpd in 2010.

Former Oil Minister Mohammad Al-Olaim said in December that Kuwait may delay some planned investments in the sector due to the sharp decline in crude prices, but will keep the main projects intact.

In February last year, Al-Shuwayeb said Kuwait had earmarked $55 billion for investment over the next five years in the energy sector, including raising production capacity and building a new refinery.

But Al-Shuwayeb said yesterday although the plan is being revised, necessary projects to raise output will be implemented. Earlier this month, the government canceled contracts it awarded to six international oil companies to build a $15 billion new refinery after the independent Audit Bureau said the project was not feasible.

Oil Minister Ahmad Abdullah Al-Sabah, however, said on Sunday the next government will decide the fate of the refinery.

In December, Kuwait also scrapped a $7.5 billion partnership with US giant Dow Chemical due to pressure from MPs.

Another $15 billion project to upgrade two of three existing refineries is running behind schedule, but Al-Shuwayeb said it had not been canceled.

Qatar’s Energy Minister Abdullah Al-Attiya said the global economic downturn, its impact on a drop in demand and a slide in the price of oil and gas “represent the main challenges facing the oil and gas industry.”