Kuwait allocates $110 billion to boost oil sector

Kuwait will allocate $110.4 billion to boost the country’s oil sector in the next five years, the Managing Director of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Wafaa Al-Zaabi, revealed on Sunday. He made the announcement at the opening session of an oil sector conference in Kuwait City.

According to Al-Zaabi, 63 per cent of that sum – $96 billion dollars – will be used to implement exploration projects, while the balance will be allocated to refining and petrochemical operations. He noted that Kuwait is seeking to increase the production capacity of crude oil from the current 3 million to four million barrels per day by 2020. Gas production is also set to increase to 2.5 billion cubic feet per day by 2030.

Global investment in the oil sector has fallen over the past year following the decline in crude oil prices in the global market. Figures from the Arab Petroleum Investment Corporation (APICORP) show that the total volume of oil investment in the Middle East, North Africa and Iran this year is around $900 billion.

Al-Zaabi called on the private sector in Kuwait to get involved in the implementation of the state-owned corporation’s strategy and for the banks to finance strategic oil projects within Kuwait and further afield.