Industry

Kuwait is developing its offshore discoveries. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is pushing ahead with its strategic expansion plans undeterred despite the crisis in the Middle East, its deputy chairman and CEO Shaikh Nawaf S.Al-Sabah assured delegates at the Energy Intelligence Forum in London

"We have not stopped, slowed down or even thought again about any of our strategic plans," Shaikh Al-Sabah said, confirming that KPC remains on track to deliver its target of increasing production capacity to 4mn bpd by 2035, and to increase domestic gas production to 2mn scf/d by 2040.

“We’re investing US$9-10bn a year in capex to reach those two targets; we’ll continue to make these investments and grow internationally throughout this process,” he said. “We are doing this because we recognise that it is our hydrocarbons that will be most in demand a decade from now, and two decades from now, in fact for the rest of our lifetimes.”

He added that the two major projects announced just before the beginning of hostilities are also going ahead as planned. Project Peregrine, which involves the lease and leaseback of existing pipelines in Kuwait, will finance future growth. Investors remain fully committed to the project, he said, and definitive agreements were signed in July.

“We were able to execute on time, on target with valuations that were higher than we expected before the war started, and at a cost less that any preceding transaction in the region of a similar scope, so we ended up with US$7.85bn in new foreign investment in the pipeline network.” This was because investors from around the world recognised the resilience in Kuwait and took a long-term view, he said.

The other project announced is Project Seef, which will develop three massive offshore discoveries made over the past two years, together containing over 3bn bbl of oil in recoverable reserves. Noting that all Kuwait’s production to date has been onshore, he pointed out that this achievement in getting a 100% exploration success, given that three wells drilled had resulted in three major discoveries. Subsequent wells have been drilled with further discoveries made, which have not yet been officially announced.

“We are asking international oil companies to partner with us to develop those resources under an operating services contract. So we’re moving ahead according to the exact same schedule that we had put together even before the war began.

“It is that type of resilience that really reflects how Kuwait and KPC are looking at this crisis and planning for the future,” he said.

Proving resilient

Discussing the company’s resilience, Shaikh Al-Sabah drew parallels with the destruction of Kuwait’s oilfields at the time of the Iraqi invasion and occupation of Kuwait in 1991, when it had been able to bring production back relatively quickly because of the resilience of its people and its reservoirs, as well as the strength of its international partnerships. Kuwait and its GCC neighbours had demonstrated resilience in the face of the current attacks by planning in advance for such a scenario.

However, he said that while storage buffers and alternative pipeline routes that had been put in place had contributed to this resilience, these buffers are evaporating and “none of these is a replacement for free navigation to the Strait of Hormuz …ultimately the resilience of the international system can only hold up for so long.”

Kuwait had responded to the crisis by slowly reducing production from 2.6mn bpd to a level sufficient to serve Kuwait’s domestic demands, when it was unable to export, and then when it had been able to restart exports by using its own internal tanker fleet, building production back up again to current level of around 2mn bpd.

“We have the capacity to go back up to our current maximum sustainable capacity of 3mn bpd, if we have the export routes available, and this comes down to the ability to move oil through the Strait,” Al-Sabah said. “We have been doing that by using our strategic tanker fleet.” He acknowledged the contribution of Kuwait’s customers, who had brought their own tankers in to support Kuwait’s operations.

Al Sabah noted that while there is an abundance of crude, there is a shortage of product, as there is no way to transport it from refineries, except through shipping, which is heavily restricted. Distillate prices are sky high, as are refinery margins. What is needed in the future is to move product out of the Gulf to get refineries to full production. Kuwait is cooperating with its neighbours on transport options. KPC is also leveraging its investments in refineries outside Kuwait and shipping as much crude as it can to those refineries, growing associated storage to make them even more resilient against any future. It is also building out its storage capacity in Kuwait itself.

“We have to be completely self-reliant,” Shaikh Al-Sabah said.

Echoing the remarks of Aramco CEO Amin H Nasser earlier, he urged an international response to the crisis, bringing producers and consumers together. “This isn’t a crisis that can be borne only by the producers, that we have to build more pipelines. The response has to be inclusive of consuming countries as well.”

Saudi Arabia's exports are now at their highest level since February. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Crude oil exports from key Middle East producers, notably Saudi Arabia, have rebounded in September to 12.8mn bpd, the highest level since the start of the hostilities in February, according to a Reuters report, drawing on tracking data from Kpler

However, exports from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Iran are still around 6 mn bpd below the 18.8mn bpd recorded in February, and with President Trump having rejected Iran's latest offer to reopen the Strait, it does not look as if a full reopening of the waterway is on the cards any time soon.

Saudi Arabia is on course to ship around 5.4mn bpd in September, rebounding from 2.446mn bpd in August, the data indicates, the highest level since the start of the war and approaching its 2025 average.

Having closed its East-West pipeline as a precautionary measure following attacks from the Houthis on its energy infrastructure, the Kingdom had rerouted some of its oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, using a shipping lane opened by the US military along the Oman coast. 19 very large crude carriers carrying Saudi oil passed through the Strait of Hormuz last week, according to Kpler data. Saudi Arabia is now reported to have restarted exports through the East-West pipeline, which runs from the Abqaiq oilfield in Eastern province to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea and has a capacity of 7mn bpd. Oil loadings from Yanbu are reported to have resumed. Aramco had been able to keep the oil flowing by directing around 70% of its exports through the pipeline, enabling it to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

Aramco stresses resilience

At the announcement of the company’s second quarter results in August, Aramco’s CEO Amin H Nasser made a point of stressing the company’s resilience and the agility of its business and operations to withstand and respond to rapidly changing market conditions.

“Despite the unprecedented disruption through the Strait of Hormuz, we continued to demonstrate our ability to maintain business continuity by capitalising on our diverse asset base and multi-decade planning, including strategic infrastructure such as the East-West pipeline, storage capacity and export terminals,” he said at the time. This has enabled Aramco to sustain production and exports while advancing key projects, he added.

The CEO reiterated this message in an interview with Nokkei Asia recently, when he noted that Aramco continues to explore additional export routes and expand its storage capacity outside the Kingdom to maintain supplies to global markets. He said operations affected by disruptions can be restored within days, noting that Aramco has multiple options for meeting customer demand and that it possesses the infrastructure and operational capabilities necessary to continue operating under challenging circumstances.

The agreement was signed by H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin Faisal Al-Thani, chief executive officer of Qatar Free Zones Authority, and Judson Duncan, group president, Global Sales at Emerson. (Image source: Emerson)

At a time of geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruption, operations that enable customers to source goods and services locally can play a key role in helping them reduce operational disruption and accelerate time-to-market

Emerson is doing just that with plans to build a new automation solutions and operations centre in the Umm Alhoul Free Zone in Qatar, to include a flow calibration lab, along with other critical automation technologies designed to help customers optimise operations, reduce turnaround time, minimise costs and accelerate project timelines.

An agreement to establish the centre was signed on the sidelines of Qatar Economic Forum (QEF) in New York City in the presence of Qatar Free Zone dignitaries.

Aligning with Qatar Vision 2030 objectives

Emerson already has a strong existing footprint of manufacturing, service and distribution locations in the Middle East across Saudi Arabia and UAE, along with an extensive network of service partners in the region. The 3,500 sq metre Emerson Middle East & Africa Service Center will expand Emerson’s local capabilities for customers in Qatar and across the Middle East and Africa, reinforcing the company’s expanding automation and industrial technology presence in the region, contributing to in-country value creation and aligning with Qatar Vision 2030 objectives around economic growth, diversification and industrialisation. This will see Qatar transformed from a hydrocarbons-based economy to an advanced, diversified and competitive global knowledge-based market, with the expansion of industrial sectors and leveraging advanced supply chains. It also aims to create a business-friendly environment capable of attracting foreign funds and technologies and of encouraging national investments.

A first for Qatar

The new facility is significant in that it will host the region’s first certified in-country flow calibration lab, with the capability of calibrating large-size flow meters for high-pressure and high-volume operations. These are extensively used in Qatar’s heavy industrial sectors such as oil and gas, chemicals, power and water to measure and monitor fluid, gas and steam transfer.

The Qatar facility will also feature:

• Measurement instrumentation solutions and skid training systems
• Off-the-shelf inventory and spare parts distribution
• A training and experience center for customer operations teams
• Staging and integration services for distributed control systems

The contol systems staging and measurement solutions services, spares inventory and training centre will open in Decemebr 2026, with the certified flow calibration lab following in early 2027.

“This new investment reflects Emerson’s strategic commitment to accelerating innovation in Qatar and supporting the Middle East’s most critical operations,” said Judson Duncan, group president of Global Sales at Emerson. “Our additional capabilities will enable customers to operate with greater agility, reliability and cost efficiency.”

SLB has been awarded four integrated well construction contracts by Aramco to support oil and gas development across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Under the contracts, SLB will manage end-to-end well construction services, delivering more than 450 wells over the three-year term, with an optional extension of up to two years.

What is integrated well construction?

As projects become larger and more complex, integrating planning, execution and digital workflows helps to reduce operational costs, speed up delivery, and minimise risks. In Namibia, an integrated well construction campaign cut the award-to-spud cycle by 67%, from a traditional 18-month timeline to six months.

Streamlined approach

Integrated well construction brings together engineering, drilling, and completions into a single, streamlined approach to well design and execution, through a technology-enabled operating model. It combines digital drilling workflows with automated drilling, evaluation, fluids, cementing, and completions products and services to improve efficiency, consistency, and well performance across diverse, large-scale drilling programmes. Integration ensures that information flows seamlessly throughout the organisation, without silos.

Planning to execution expertise

SLB’s well engineering expertise optimises every phase—from exploration to full field development—through strong risk management and operational oversight. This enables the delivery of safe, efficient, and precise outcomes tailored to the customer’s reservoir challenges.

Leading technologies

SLB combines advanced well construction technologies with fit-for-purpose solutions to improve performance and set new standards in execution.

Digitally enabled workflows

From autonomous drilling to AI-driven decision-making, digital solutions drive smarter, faster, and more reliable results.

"Delivering hundreds of wells across a multi-year programme and in multiple operating environments requires an integrated model that connects planning, execution, and digital workflows to set new industry performance benchmarks,” said Steve Gassen, executive vice president of Geographies for SLB. “Awarding SLB these advanced well construction programmes at scale reflects Aramco’s confidence in our integrated model and capabilities."

Building on the longstanding collaboration between SLB and Aramco, the awards represent a significant expansion of SLB's integrated well construction business in the Kingdom and reflect growing customer adoption of integrated delivery models for large-scale drilling programmes, highlighting the model’s ability to improve execution consistency across the well construction lifecycle. It comes as Aramco continues to pursue major projects to maintain maximum sustainable capacity at 12mn bpd, such as the Zuluf crude oil increment project and the Dammam development, as well as to grow gas production capacity by around 80%, with a focus on unlocking its unconventional gas resources. SLB was awarded a five-year contract by Aramco to provide stimulation services for its unconventional gas fields earlier this year.