Kuwait eager to interact with Silk City project, says minister

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KPC working to hike crude oil production to 3.380m bpd

Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah delivers a speech at ‘Kuwait’s Northern Gulf Gateway Project: Silk City’ workshop organized by WB’s Kuwait Office.

KUWAIT CITY, May 7, (Agencies): First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah expressed Monday sincere eagerness to interact socially and politically with the northern Kuwait and Silk City development projects. Works on these two projects are currently in early stages, Sheikh Nasser said in his opening speech at a workshop, entitled “Kuwait’s Northern Gulf Gateway Project: Silk City”, organized by the World Bank’s Kuwait Office.

Silk City was not just a mere vision, but it has been a reality in Kuwait since the pre-oil discovery period, he said. Kuwait thrives on its courteous and friendly culture, which welcomes and helps everyone without discrimination of their religion or ethnic backgrounds, he added.

“This is exactly what we need to do; rehabilitate the location of Silk City and put it back on its previous historic place,” said Sheikh Nasser Al-Sabah. Kuwait faces a great challenge in implementing the project, he said, affirming the country’s ability to overcome such a major test just as it had always done with past major development plans. Materializing His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al- Jaber Al-Sabah’s “Kuwait 2035” vision began two years and three months ago, he said, affirming Kuwait’s constant strive to provide assistance to neighboring countries.

Due to geographic locations, many Central Asian nations have limited links and access to trade and interact with other countries around the world, Sheikh Nasser noted. Thus, Kuwait intends to link Central Asia, South Russia, Mongolia, and rest of Asian countries with the world through Silk City, which would also serve other countries in the region as well, particularly Iran, Iraq, and Gulf states, he noted. Kuwait is well-renowned for aiding many countries around the world as it is part of its genuine heritage, which is a blend of history, culture, commerce, and tourism, said Sheikh Nasser. Gulf nations have a tendency of linking themselves with the rest of the world via several routes, including the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea, he noted. GCC states benefit highly from the Red Sea mountain areas in Saudi Arabia and the coastal city of Aqaba in Jordan, he said, pointing out the valuable minerals available in these areas that could be availed. Sheikh Nasser urged neighboring countries to understand Kuwait’s 2035 vision and cooperate with each other in peace and harmony to achieve the desired goal successfully.

He also hoped the workshop benefits from the World Bank expertise, especially in reviewing the successes achieved by South American and Southeast Asian nations. He also called on the workshop’s participants to review World Bank’s positive and negative experiences to avoid mistakes and failure.

Meanwhile, the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is working to increase the crude oil production capacity to 3.380 million barrels per day during the current fiscal 2018/2019 (excluding the divided area), through the operation of 4 early production plants and 4 new crude oil collection centers and drilling operations by increasing the number of drilling shafts operating to the 180 largest drilling towers in the history of Kuwait, reports Al-Anba daily.

The production capacity of crude oil is expected to reach 3.650 million barrels per day by 2020/2021, while the average production capacity of 440 million cubic feet for free gas during the current fiscal will rise to 510 million cubic feet by 2020/2021. The company will work on 3 centers for early production, the most recent of which will be operated in June and the 4 facilities for the production of Jurassic gas will be operated in 2020/2021 and 2022/2023. Kuwait’s crude oil exports are about 2.1 million barrels per day, while daily production is about 2.7 million barrels, in line with the OPEC cut-off agreement and the top producers from outside.

The oil sector is working to support the local economy. The total capital expenditure during the last 3 years is about 17.6 billion dinars and the share of domestic spending is about 6 billion dinars, and during November 2017 and January 2018 five investment opportunities were offered to the private sector.

On the global marketing operations, the KPC has provided $678 million by importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) to meet the needs of the Ministry of Electricity and Water instead of burning diesel, fuel oil and oil, which has had an impact on improving the environment and reducing harmful emissions. Moreover, approximately $12 million was provided by extending the period of import of LNG to December 2017.

The Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is working on the implementation of the projects of the crude oil isolation program in order to achieve the ability to export 4 types of crude oil namely the Kuwaiti export crude, heavy oil (Fares al-Basal and Umm Naga), heavy medium oil (Rataoui and East Umm Kadeer) and light oil compared to the current capacity to export one type (Kuwaiti export ore).

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