Energy
From The Report: Kuwait 2015
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Kuwait’s position as one of the biggest players in the international energy markets is backed by its proven reserves, currently the sixth-largest in the world. While international oil prices will have a significant impact on state revenues moving forward, low production costs and ample fiscal reserves should shield the country from the price downturn. The country increased its oil production by more than 14% between 2007 and 2014, from an estimated 2.57m bpd to 2.93m bpd, according to OPEC. Moving forward, the government has outlined plans to develop critical infrastructure projects and a number of major oil developments for a total five-year investment of more than $116bn, with spending in the oil and gas sector to top $100bn. In the non-oil segment, the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research is investigating the potential for alternative energy sources and has recently launched three projects with a combined capacity of 70 MW.

This chapter contains interviews with Hashem Sayed Hashem, CEO, Kuwait Oil Company; and Anas Meerza, Group CEO, National Technology Enterprises Company.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Coming out on top: The country’s experience has stood it in good stead as oil prices fluctuate
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Along with Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and Venezuela, Kuwait is a founding member of OPEC, which holds almost 81% of the world’s proven oil reserves, with over 66% of these stocks located in the Middle East. Despite having just over a 10th of the landmass of England, Kuwait holds the sixth-largest proven oil reserves in the world, according to the BP’s “Statistical Review of World Energy 2014”. History Kuwait made its first discovery of oil in the Burgan field in 1938, and the first shipment…

Interview

For the long haul: OBG talks to Hashem Sayed Hashem, CEO, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC)
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Interview: Hashem Sayed Hashem What impact is the lower price of oil having on major project planning and roll out? HASHEM SAYED HASHEM: In the current environment of lower oil prices, lower-cost producers like Kuwait will have the opportunity and responsibility to increase their oil production capacity in order to ensure that increasing global oil demand is fulfilled. Current estimations indicate that global oil demand will grow at an average of 0.7% per year from 2015 to 2040, bringing demand…

Analysis

Heavy-duty: The government is increasingly focusing investment in heavy oil
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Kuwait’s oil reserves include a total of approximately 13bn barrels of heavy crude oil, located primarily in the country’s northern fields of Raudhatain, Sabriya, Abdali, and Ratqa, as well as the Partitioned Neutral Zone (PNZ). Developing production in the northern Jurassic fields will help the government to meet the key objective of Project Kuwait to increase oil production capacity to 4m barrels per day (bpd) by 2020. According to the US Energy Information Agency, developing heavy oil…

Interview

Staying power: OBG talks to Anas Meerza, Group CEO, National Technology Enterprises Company (NTEC)
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Interview: Anas Meerza In what ways can renewable energies be utilised in the oil and gas sector? ANSA MEERZA: The oil and gas sector has plenty of remote locations for exploration, which are currently running on diesel generators or grid-connected electricity, all of which can definitely be replaced by renewable energy. A good example of this is the Oman Oil Company, which uses renewable energy on its oil rigs successfully. Today the hydrocarbons sector is a large consumer of electricity, so even…

Analysis

New horizons: Local players are looking to expand their global operations
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Management of the external operations of the state oil company, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), is delegated to various subsidiaries, which are particularly focused on expanding the state’s assets abroad. Kuwait Petroleum International has a major stake in refining and marketing operations internationally. The company, which operates under the Q8 brand name, entered the European market with the acquisition of Gulf Oil’s retail operations in six countries in 1983 and expanded further…

Analysis

Big spender: Major investments are planned across the sector
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Despite the drop in global oil prices since 2014, Kuwait has announced ambitious plans to invest $100bn on oil and gas projects between 2015 and 2020. Investment will be split between upstream investments to raise Kuwait’s output capacity and downstream projects to increase the country’s share of the energy value chain globally. The investment programme is also in line with the country’s broader aim to increase oil output capacity. Diversifying and expanding crude oil production, which…

Analysis

Rising cost: Growing demand has prompted a drive to boost generating capacity and explore alternatives
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With one of the highest rates of energy consumption per capita in the world, meeting electricity demand is a pressing concern for Kuwait. According to the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, the country was the fourth-largest consumer of electricity per capita in 2011. A growing economy and an increasingly wealthy population is pushing up demand for power supplies. BEARING THE COST: While the country’s harsh weather conditions are one key factor behind this level of demand, highly…