Kuwait may open up to foreign oil groups

Kuwait said on Monday it would not be able to meet its oil production goals without the help of international energy companies, raising the prospect that the oil majors could get access to its oilfields almost 30 years after the industry was nationalised.

Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Sabah, the emirate’s energy minister, on Monday said: “For production to meet 4m barrels a day by 2020, Project Kuwait is a must.”

Project Kuwait is a $7bn plan to boost the production and reserves of Kuwait’s technically challenging northern oil fields with the help of international oil companies. It has already attracted interest some of the world’s largest energy groups, including the UK’s BP and ExxonMobil and Chevron of the US.

Financial Times