Kuwait makes three new oil and gas discoveries

The new finds include a field next to the huge Burgan field

Kuwait discovered three new oil and gas fields including one next to the giant Burgan field, according to the country’s oil minister.

Kuwait discovered three new oil and gas fields including one next to the giant Burgan field, the country’s oil minister said.

State oil firm Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) discovered the new fields in different parts of the country, which will boost the country's oil reserves and production capacity, the minister of oil, electricity and water Mohammad Al Faris said in a statement to the Kuwait News Agency on Monday evening.

The first discovery is in the north-west part of the country with a production capacity of 1,452 barrels per day of light oil, while the second is in Al Qashaniya in northern Kuwait with a production capacity of 1,819 bpd of light oil and associated gas.

“This discovery has great economic importance as it sheds light on large undiscovered areas in the western and north-western parts of Kuwait, which will contribute directly to increasing oil reserves and the production capacity according to KOC’s 2040 strategic plan,” Mr Al Faris, said.

Kuwait is currently Opec's fourth-largest producer and the two new discoveries in the northern part of Kuwait are deemed to be of strategic importance as this area has not been explored before, according to the minister.

A conventional oilfield was also discovered to the north of the Burgan field in south-west Kuwait, which has a daily production rate of more than 2,000 barrels from several wells drilled in 2020.

“The results give KOC access to easy and low-cost reserves, which supports the company’s efforts to maintain its competitive advantage between countries and oil companies,” the minister said.

The company will drill new wells in the discovered fields to increase production, he added.

Kuwait, like other Opec members, is currently curtailing its oil production to ensure a better balance between oil supply and demand. The country’s oil production reached 2.291million barrels per day in November, according to Opec’s monthly oil market report based on secondary sources.

Kuwait had 101.5 billion barrels in proven oil reserves at the end of 2019, which account for 5.9 per cent of the world's total, according to BP's 2020 Statistical Review of World Energy.

Other GCC countries including the UAE and Saudi Arabia also announced new oil and gas discoveries recently.

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of crude, last month discovered four new oil and gas fields in different locations, the kingdom's minister of energy Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman said.

In February, the UAE discovered 80 trillion cubic feet of shallow gas reserves in an area straddling the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the biggest find in 15 years.