Why Kuwait wants to shift to heavy oil

KUWAIT: Last week, Kuwait announced its plans to shift into heavy oil production during an international oil conference to meet its 2020 target of producing 4 million barrels per day (bpd).

Kuwait has traditionally produced and exported mainly medium to light crude since the 1950s. Now KOC is pushing for more involvement of international oil companies in developing its heavy oil assets. But why is Kuwait shifting to heavy oil production?


Developing and marketing of heavy oil is highly challenging both technically and economically. For Kuwait, shortage of skilled manpower and lack of the know-how to clear mines in the northern fields are some of the challenges facing KOC.

The focus of the four-day energy conference, organized by state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), was heavy oil crude; opportunities, challenges and recovery techniques. Though currently Kuwait doesn’t produce any heavy oil for export according to industry officials, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) announced during the conference a preliminary agreement with Exxon Mobil to develop its heavy oil assets.

Kuwait Times