Kuwait’s oil production capacity now exceeds 3 million barrels per day, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) CEO Sheikh Nawaf Saud al-Sabah told reporters on Tuesday.
The country’s oil production capacity was at more than 2.8 million bpd in June last year, Ahmad Jaber Al-Eidan, the CEO of KPC subsidiary Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), said at the time.
Kuwait aims to boost its oil output to 4 million bpd by 2035, having previously missed a goal of reaching that level by 2020.
Commenting on U.S. President Donald Trump’s views on fossil fuels, Sheikh Nawaf said there is no alternative to oil as a primary source of energy, “neither now nor in the future”.
“Perhaps this is what President Trump and officials in the United States have realised, that there must be continued exploration and production of oil, and this is what we reflect here in Kuwait. We know that demand for Kuwaiti oil will increase in the future.”
Trump signed a flurry of orders within hours of his inauguration on Monday intended to boost the United States’ already record-high oil and gas production.
Al-Eidan said KOC aims to reach “full production” from discovered offshore fields within eight to 10 years.
Of the 4 million bpd of oil production capacity Kuwait is targeting by 2035, 350,000 bpd of capacity is expected to come from an area called the Neutral Zone, jointly operated with Saudi Arabia.
Kuwait last year said it had made a “giant” oil discovery with estimated reserves of 3.2 billion barrels. It said on Monday it had found 800 million medium-density oil barrels and 600 billion standard cubic feet of associated gas offshore.
Sheikh Nawaf said Kuwait has completed engineering studies for the Durra gas field and is proceeding according to a plan agreed with Saudi Arabia.
A Kuwaiti-Saudi Arabian development agreement signed in 2023 has been criticized by Iran, which claims a stake in the field. Durra holds an estimated 20 trillion cubic feet in proven reserves.
(Reporting by Ahmed Hagagy; Writing by Yousef Saba; Editing by Jan Harvey)