Kuwait – Mubasher: The Kuwaiti government is studing floating stakes in four oil companies on the Kuwait Stock Exchange (KSE), said the Ministries of Finance and Oil .
The government is considering offering a stake of 20-30% of Kuwait Petroleum International, Kuwait Oil Tanker Co, Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. and Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration and Petrochemicals Industries Co., said oil minister Anas Al-Saleh. The government will continue in keeping the majority stakes in these four companies, he added.
Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti oil minister ruled out offering a stake in the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), which is considered the mother company of almost all the Kuwaiti oil and petroleum companies .
The process of floating such stakes may take around four years to be completed, said Al-Saleh, adding that it will require securing the approval of the Kuwaiti parliament.
Floating stakes in state-run oil companies comes in the context of the county’s general plan to sell stakes in industrial entities to secure more liquidity and enhance the operating performance of these companies.
The price of oil may fluctuate between $50-60 per barrel until 2018, the oil minister said, notng that the market may regain its stability in 2016. Demand will increase if the oil price reached $50 per barrel, he added.
