Mubasher: Kuwait’s Minister of Oil and Electricity and Water Khaled Al-Fadel gave instructions to reconsider KWD 150 billion ($495 billion) amounts allocated for the oil sector as part of the GCC nation’s “2040 Strategy”, sources close to the matter said.
The Kuwaiti minster said that he is not against the expansion of oil projects; however, the allocated amounts are seen as “optimistic”, Al-Rai newspaper reported, citing the sources.
A more accurate study will be conducted to consider different aspects related to the feasibility of the 2040 strategic plan’s projects, sources added.
The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and its subsidiaries seek to raise crude oil output from 3.15 million barrels per day (bpd) to 4.75 million bpd.
Sources noted that Kuwait’s oil output could range between 3.8-to-4 million bpd by 2040.
The volume of local expenditures for oil projects accounted for 76%, or $369 billion, of the total allocated amounts within the 2040 Strategy, while overseas acquisitions, local refining, international refining, petrochemical projects and oil tanker construction made up $27 billion, $42 billion, $21 billion, $23 billion and $4 billion, respectively.
In December, Kuwait raised oil production by 29,000 bpd to 2.80 million bpd, from 2.77 million bpd in November, according to the monthly report issued by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
