SLB wins Mutriba deal • Shell sells Orca stake to KUFPEC • Eni, Q8 to build biorefinery
KUWAIT: HH the Prime Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah said on Tuesday that Kuwait Petroleum Corporation plans to invite international oil companies to assist Kuwait Oil Company in developing recently announced offshore oil and gas discoveries through the Al-Seef Project, which targets the Nokhatha, Julaia and Jazza offshore fields, accelerating development while transferring advanced expertise and technology.
HH Sheikh Ahmad added in his opening remarks at the Kuwait Oil and Gas Show at Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre that KPC is in talks with global financial institutions to establish a lease and lease-back of Kuwait’s domestic crude oil pipeline network. The premier said the major turnout at the conference is a testament to the nation’s transformation into a trusted international energy partner.
Underlining an existential economic shift Kuwait has seen as part of its long-term development plan New Kuwait 2035, he said this strategy is a roadmap towards a more diverse and sustainable economy that places greater emphasis on the long-term value of the nation’s natural resources. Such a strategy will revolve around the virtues of flexibility and creativity in a bid to transform Kuwait into a global and competitive energy hub, he emphasized, citing the crude Shaheen project that promises to be the biggest foreign investment in the history of the national oil industry, pending its completion in the next few months.
During the event, HH the Prime Minister attended a panel session featuring Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Energy, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud, who reviewed the kingdom’s efforts to ensure sustainable stability in global oil markets. The fifth edition of KOGS is the biggest in the event’s history, KPC CEO Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah said, citing the impressive turnout the talks have garnered. KPC is pushing forward with its strategy to raise its refining capacity by 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) on a national level, while the figure for abroad is at 600,000 bpd, he told a press conference after the opening of KOGS.
Kuwaiti Oil Minister Tareq Al-Roumi told Reuters on Monday that he expects tenders for the Durra oil and gas field project, in cooperation with Saudi Arabia, to be launched this year. Al-Roumi said the “very large” project, the development of which has been delayed, is not facing any obstacles and that tenders of “all kinds” would be issued. Kuwait shares Durra field with Saudi Arabia and Iran also claims a stake in it. Al-Roumi also said he hoped for better oil prices but that he considers them “acceptable” in current circumstances.
During the conference, Italy’s energy major Eni and Q8 Italy, part of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, formally approved a strategic joint investment to construct and operate a new biorefinery at the Priolo industrial site in Sicily. The project will convert the existing Versalis industrial site into a biorefinery with a nameplate capacity of 500,000 tons per year. The investment deepens a three-decade partnership between Eni and Q8, which began with the Milazzo refinery in 1996. Separately, Q8 signed an agreement with Oman’s OQ Group to develop a petrochemical complex in the Special Economic Zone in Duqm.
Meanwhile, SLB has won a $1.5 billion contract from Kuwait Oil Company for production management work at the country’s Mutriba field, the US energy services contractor said on Tuesday. The five-year deal calls for SLB to lead integrated design, development and production work for the “next stage of development” at Mutriba, the company said. The work will cover deeper, “technically demanding” reservoirs in the field that have high temperatures, high pressure and sour hydrocarbons, SLB said. SLB added that it is already familiar with the field’s subsurface.
Also, European supermajor Shell has agreed to sell a minority working interest in the Orca pre-salt project in Brazil’s Santos basin to Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC). As part of the transaction, Shell will reduce its operating stake at Orca from 70 percent to 50 percent, with KUFPEC acquiring 20 percent. Colombia’s Ecopetrol holds the remaining 30 percent. The deal also strengthens the strategic partnership between the two companies in several upstream markets, including Egypt and Kuwait, according to Shell. – Agencies
