The national oil company Kuwait Petroleum Company (KOC) has discovered new oil fields in different areas of the country, which will increase the country’s oil reserves and production capacity, the Minister of Petroleum, Electricity and Water, Mohammad Al Faris, said in a statement to Kuwait News Acting on Monday night.

Kuwait’s Minister of Petroleum, Electricity and Water Resources Mohamed Al Faris said in a statement issued on January 4 that the national oil company Kuwait Petroleum Company (KOC) has discovered new oil fields in different parts of the country, which will increase Kuwait’s oil reserves and production capacity.

The first was found in the northwest of the country, with a daily production capacity of 1,452 barrels of light oil, and the second was discovered in Qashaniya, northern Kuwait, with a daily output of 1,819 barrels of light oil and associated gas.

Mr. Faris said: "This discovery is of great economic significance because it reveals large areas of undiscovered areas in western and northwestern Kuwait. According to KOC's 2040 strategic plan, this will directly contribute to the increase in oil reserves and production capacity."

Kuwait is currently OPEC’s fourth-largest oil producer. Two new discoveries in northern Kuwait are considered to be of strategic importance because the area has never been explored before.

The third discovery was in the northern Burgan oil field in southwestern Kuwait. This is a conventional oil field that has drilled several wells in 2020 with a daily output of more than 2,000 barrels.

The minister said: "These results have allowed Kuwait Petroleum Corporation to obtain a simple and low-cost reserve, which supports the company's efforts to maintain a competitive advantage between the country and the oil company."

He added that the company will drill new wells in the discovered oil fields to increase production.

Cut its oil production

Like other OPEC members, Kuwait is currently cutting its oil production to ensure a better balance between oil supply and demand. According to second-hand sources, OPEC’s monthly oil market report showed that the country’s oil production reached 2.291 million barrels per day in November.

According to BP's "World Energy Statistics Review 2020", as of the end of 2019, Kuwait has proven oil reserves of 101.5 billion barrels, accounting for 5.9% of the world's total reserves.

Other Gulf Cooperation Council countries (including the UAE and Saudi Arabia) have also recently announced new oil and gas discoveries. Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia, said that Saudi Arabia is the world's largest crude oil exporter. Four new oil and gas fields were discovered in different locations last month.

In February, the UAE discovered 80 trillion cubic feet of shallow natural gas reserves across Abu Dhabi and the emirate of Dubai, the largest discovery in 15 years.Editor/Huang Lijun