Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) appears to have scaled back its ambitious heavy oil expansion plans as part of an overall downsizing of plans to raise output capacity (MEES, 22 October). The long-term target for the centerpiece South Ratqa development has been cut by 50,000 b/d to 270,000 b/d.
The long-term outlook for heavy oil reserves has long been shaky, and KOC’s then-CEO told MEES in 2018 that the reason the firm was accelerating its heavy oil development plans was because “we have to explore it and sell it otherwise it will be stranded” (MEES, 20 April 2018). This has only been exacerbated by the accelerating energy transition. (CONTINUED - 569 WORDS)
