Kuwait may delay some oil projects after price plunge
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 23 (AFP): OPEC member Kuwait may delay some planned investments in the oil sector in light of the sharp drop in crude prices but will keep the main plans intact, Oil Minister Mohammad al-Olaim said yesterday.
"We are in the process of assessing our (long-term) plan ... there could be some rescheduling of certain projects ... but we will keep the (main) goals," the minister told a press conference.
Kuwait said at the start of the year that it had earmarked 55 billion dollars for investment over the next five years in the energy sector, including raising production capacity and building a new refinery.
"The five-year plan for the (Kuwait Petroleum) Corporation is flexible but there will be no change to essential projects," the minister said. "Our plan for output capacity increases is still valid."
Based on the plan, the Gulf state aims to raise its crude output capacity to four million barrels per day (bpd) by 2020 from 2.7 million bpd currently.
The plan is behind schedule as capacity should have been raised to three million bpd in 2008 and to 3.5 million bpd in 2010.
Benchmark international crude oil prices were between 40 and 45 dollars a barrel on Friday, less than a third of their peaks above 147 dollars reached in July.
"We are in the process of assessing our (long-term) plan ... there could be some rescheduling of certain projects ... but we will keep the (main) goals," the minister told a press conference.
Kuwait said at the start of the year that it had earmarked 55 billion dollars for investment over the next five years in the energy sector, including raising production capacity and building a new refinery.
"The five-year plan for the (Kuwait Petroleum) Corporation is flexible but there will be no change to essential projects," the minister said. "Our plan for output capacity increases is still valid."
Based on the plan, the Gulf state aims to raise its crude output capacity to four million barrels per day (bpd) by 2020 from 2.7 million bpd currently.
The plan is behind schedule as capacity should have been raised to three million bpd in 2008 and to 3.5 million bpd in 2010.
Benchmark international crude oil prices were between 40 and 45 dollars a barrel on Friday, less than a third of their peaks above 147 dollars reached in July.