Kuwait’s Al Zour refinery increases capacity by 50%

Kuna

State-owned Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (Kipic) said that the third and final unit at the Al Zour refinery is now operational.

The plant is now fully operational and refining will reach full capacity of 615,000 barrels per day (bpd), up from 410,000 bpd, the oil company said in a statement.

Kipic CEO Walid Al-Bader said that the Al Zour refinery project is “one of the world’s biggest projects” and was executed through five packages by global contractor alliances.

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Kipic started commercial operations of the first phase of the Al Zour refinery in November 2022.

Kuwait announced a new strategy in October to boost fossil fuel production, indicating it would prepare the infrastructure for the Durra gas field, which is expected to be fully commissioned by 2029.

A Kuwaiti-Saudi Arabian agreement was signed last year to develop Durra, which holds an estimated 20 trillion cubic feet in proven reserves.

Under the new strategy, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation subsidiary Kuwait Oil Company aims to increase oil production capacity to 3.65 million bpd by 2035 and ensure about $11 billion of additional revenue for the state in the next five years, Reuters reported.

Kuwait’s oil reserves are estimated at 100 billion barrels, KPC chief executive Sheikh Nawaf Saud Al Sabah said.