Kuwait’s decade-long $30bn refining upgrade program is paying off, with the latest official data showcasing record throughputs and product exports over the first half of this year. The emirate, traditionally a major crude supplier, now exports more products than crude thanks to the expansion of its refinery capacity to 1.4mn b/d from just 738,000 b/d in 2021. The higher value of these products is helping strengthen Kuwait’s economic performance.
The latest Jodi data shows that refined products accounted for more than 50% of Kuwait’s total oil export volumes in Q2 for the first time on record, a marked turnaround from the 25-30% more typical prior to the ramp up of the 615,000 b/d Al Zour refinery through 2023 (see chart 1). In total, Kuwait exported 1.21mn b/d of refined products last quarter, against 1.16mn b/d of crude oil, with diesel (325,000 b/d) and jet-kero (265,000 b/d) the two largest components. (CONTINUED - 753 WORDS)
