Kuwait has announced that operations and exports from oilfields jointly operated with Saudi Arabia will resume soon
Kuwait’s emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, however, did not elaborate on how obstacles to reopening the fields would be removed.
The Al-Khafji oilfield has been shut since October 2014 for non-compliance with new Saudi Arabia’s environmental standards. It is operated by Al-Khafji Joint Operations Company, a joint venture between AGOC, a subsidiary of state oil firm Saudi Aramco, and Kuwait Gulf Oil Company. The Kingdom and Kuwait also share the Wafra oilfield, which has been shut since May 2015 for operating difficulties, according to officials.
US oil major Chevron operates the field on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government. Before the closure, the Al-Khafji field produced around 280,000 to 300,000 bpd, while Wafra had an output capacity of about 220,000 bpd.
The emir also added that the government had to raise ultra-low domestic prices of fuels and utilities. “The government has to stop subsidies and raise the prices of fuels, electricity and water,” he was quoted as saying, without giving details of when the changes might happen or how large they would be.
According to Reuters, Kuwait has been looking at a range of ways to cut state spending and increase revenues to cope with declining oil revenues due to lower crude prices.
