Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is considering selling bonds to help pay for a planned investment of US$100bn over the next five years to boost its oil output
Bloomberg reported that state-run KPC is looking at issuing bonds and Islamic notes known as sukuk.
KPC had earlier announced plans to arrange a US$10bn loan to expand refineries to make cleaner-burning fuels. The country plans to expand its crude-production capacity to four million barrels a day by 2020, he said.
KPC CEO Nizar Al-Adsani said, “The world market will need around five to six million bpd of new crude annually.
“This shows the importance of continuity in investments in upstream globally for the sake of stable market supply and to avoid volatility and spikes in oil prices. Kuwait will study other means of financing such as bonds, sukuk, and project bonds. This will open up the possibility for KPC to be rated by international credit agencies.”
Kuwait, along with producers in the Gulf including Saudi Arabia, led the OPEC to abandon output limits last month amid efforts to squeeze higher cost producers such as Russia and USA shale drillers from the market.
“KPC will continue in its role in the market as set in its strategy to 2030 which requires launching many mega-projects and investments in refining and petrochemicals outside of Kuwait, beside raising the daily crude production capacity,” Al-Adsani added.
