Kuwait has enough oil reserves to produce 4mn b/d by 2030, state-owned Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) chief Sami al-Rushaid said at the Middle East Oil and Gas Show and Conference in Bahrain on 10 March. This suggests KOC has pushed back its long-standing 4mn b/d target from the previous date of 2020. He later told Kuwait’s state-owned news agency KUNA that KOC will boost crude output by 750,000 b/d by 2030. KOC production capacity is around 3.2mn b/d – including its share of the Neutral Zone capacity – KOC claims it currently produces more than 3mn b/d, somewhat higher than MEES estimates of 2.92mn b/d (MEES, 8 March).
Kuwait has made good progress in extending the plateau of its swing producer field, the 1.7mn b/d capacity Greater Burgan – the world’s second biggest oil field – and expanding output from its northern fields, delegates heard at the conference. KOC is employing new technologies and techniques for the first time: applying enhanced oil recovery (EOR) on maturing fields; developing heavy oil; and developing deep, high-pressure, high-temperature, ultra-sour gas deposits. (CONTINUED - 2150 WORDS)
