KUWAIT CITY, April 13, (Agencies): On Wednesday halted oil exports as a “precautionary measure” after a blinding dust storm hit the state, a Kuwait Petroleum Corp spokesman said.
Oil exports from terminals, facilities to receive vessels and some maintenance works at oil refineries were “halted as a precautionary measure”, Sheikh Talal Al-Sabah said in a KPC statement.
He added, however, the stoppage would not affect Kuwait’s commitments to clients as exports would resume once the dust cleared.
The education ministry also suspended study at all schools and universities due to the dust storm caused by winds blowing at high speed and reducing visibility to less than 200 metres (yards).
Air traffic was partially affected with incoming flights diverted to neighbouring airports while departures operated normal services, the civil aviation department said, quoted by the KUNA state news agency.
Operations at the oil-rich country’s three commercial ports were also suspended due to low visibility, the ports authority said.

 Buildings partially visible due to the dust storm

Kuwait, Opec’s fifth-largest producer, pumps around 2.3 million barrels of crude oil daily through export facilities in the south of the country.
Last week, a similar dust storm also caused a suspension of oil exports and air traffic.
Kuwait has had little rainfall for the fourth winter in a row, making the desert sand loose and easily carried aloft by strong winds. Dust storms are rare in winter but common in summer when temperatures soar.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), announced halting the exports of the crude by sea and advised incoming ships to change schedules and refrain from anchoring at the national ports for the time being.
Stoppage of the exports of the crude is a precautionary measure taken by the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), said Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled, the official spokesman of the oil sector, in a statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
The relevant authorities have also stopped activities of exports, cargo ships’ anchoring at the national ports, as well as some maintenance work at the refineries of the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), due to the bad weather prevailing in the country, stated Sheikh Talal, also the KPC Managing Director of the Government and Parliamentary Relations and Media, in the remarks to the national news agency.
In line with standing procedures, taken in the oil sector under such conditions, all operations for ensuring well-being of the personnel, as a top priority, as well as safeguarding the oil installations, as a second priority, have been taken.
The traffic at Kuwait’s marine ports, Shuwaikh Port, Shuaiba Port, and Doha Port, came to a stop Wednesday due to the poor weather, and is to remain so till the conditions improve, said Kuwait Ports Authority.
Shuwaikh Port Marine Operations Director Suleiman Al-Yahya said traffic was put on hold after visibility fell dramatically and wind speeds went up, making traffic in both directions difficult. The decision was taken to put all to a stop as a precaution to keep both staff and facilities safe.
He added entry of three ships had been delayed and they are waiting at the waiting docks, and exit of another four ships, carrying containers, had also been delayed.
Crews at all ports are on full aler, meanwhile, and are ready to resume work as soon as the weather condition permits and visibility improves, and there is constant coordination with the meteorology department, the official remarked.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, halted all incoming flights to Kuwait International Airport, due to the dusty weather. But outgoing flights proceeded as normal.
Mohammad Al-Thuwaini, the acting director of operations at the airport, said in remarks to KUNA that incoming aircraft were diverted to air facilities in neighboring countries.
Visibility that allows incoming flights, according to standards, stands at 300 meters and above. For the outgoing flights, 150 m.
Wednesday’s storm was largely reminiscent of the rarely-seen sand storm that whipped the country on March 25, paralyzing or disrupting much of the daily activities of individuals and authorities.
Mefreh Bin Saeed Bin Haddiah, in charge of radioactivity early-warning stations and the monitoring station of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), said the March 25 sand storm reduced intensification of radioactive particles that drifted to the national skies as a result of the nuclear blast that ripped through the Japanese Fukushima nuclear reactor.
He told KUNA that the highest reading of the radioactive materials, registered in Kuwait on April 3, reached 920 micro becquerel (Bq) cubic meter, a level that is not hazardous to the environment or human safety.
Bin Haddiah said the Kuwaiti National Information Center of the department of the coast engineering and air pollution of Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research is closely following up on effects of the March 12 explosion at the Japanese nuclear plant to examine possible fallouts on Kuwait and the region.
He indicated that daily readings of the measurement of radiation are shared by the CTBTO, in coordination with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Elaborating, he indicated that winds blew radiation in the direction of the Pacific on March 12-13. Radioactive pollutants were monitored in Japan, the US and Europe following the blast at the reactor.