Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) plans to spend US$90 billion in the next five years as part of its strategy to boost oil production and relaunch much of the countrys stalled upstream and downstream projects which have been affected by political wrangling.

Italys Saipem SpA, a subsidiary of Italian energy firm Eni, has signed two contracts with a total value in excess of US$1.2 billion to develop oilfields in Kuwait and Syria.

Omans oil output and exports jumped significantly in 2010 with the countrys oil output rising by 6.6 per cent in the first ten months of 2010 compared to a year ago and oil exports increasing by 10.4 per cent, the latest figures from the Ministry of Economy revealed.

Leighton Offshore was awarded an EPC contract with Iraqs South Oil Company to install three single point moorings (SPMs) and 120 kilometres of 48-inch pipelines in the Arabian Gulf, offshore Iraq.