Kuwait will prepare the infrastructure for the Durra offshore gas field, which it shares with Saudi Arabia and Iran claims a stake in, the oil minister said last week while announcing a new strategy to boost the country's oil production.
The strategy for the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) aims to raise overall oil production to 4 million barrels a day by 2035. Kuwait's crude production averaged about 2.55 million bpd in August, according to OPEC.
A Kuwaiti-Saudi Arabian agreement signed last year to develop Durra, which holds an estimated 20 trillion cubic feet in proven reserves, has been criticized by Iran, which has previously said it has a stake in the field and called the agreement "illegal".
Oil Minister Saad Al Barrak said in July Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had "exclusive rights" in Durra and called on Iran to validate its claim by demarcating its own maritime borders first. He later said the same month Kuwait would start drilling and begin production without waiting for the demarcation.
A KPC executive said last week the Durra field in Gulf waters is expected to be fully commissioned by 2029.
Under KPC's new strategy, its subsidiary Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) aims to increase oil production capacity to 3.65 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2035 and will ensure about $11 billion of additional revenue for the state in the next five years, said KPC CEO Sheikh Nawaf Saud al-Sabah.
KOC, which accounts for about 90% of Kuwait's oil output, also plans to reach gas production capacity of 1.5 trillion cubic feet by 2040, he said.
KPC also aims to increase its refining capacity to 1.6 million bpd locally and 425,000 bpd abroad by 2025, according to a conference video.
Al Barrak also said the state firm aims for net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
KPC and its subsidiaries plan to invest $110 billion to achieve the group's energy transition strategy goals, Bader Al Attar, KPC managing director for planning and finance, said.
The Al Zour refinery complex in the south of Kuwait will operate at its full 615,000 bpd capacity "within days", Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company's CEO Waleed Al Bader said.
A KIPIC spokesman said that the third refinery at Al Zour would begin operations before the end of October.
