The MEED magazine reported that the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation has decided to cancel a tender for a consultancy study to determine financing options for state-owned oil and gas companies. The invitation to bid for the consulting project was issued last December.
The magazine quoted the KPC higher purchasing committee as saying that the companies that purchased the tender documents are eligible to recover the money they paid, while the reasons for this cancellation were not given, reports Al-Rai daily.
For its part, Kuwait has been looking forward to increasing efficiency and restructuring state-owned oil and gas companies for several years. In 2020, UK-based company won a study contract to consider restructuring.
The plan was expected to cut costs and consolidate several state-controlled companies in the country’s oil, gas and petrochemical sectors. KPC said at the time that the mergers would reduce the number of large state-controlled companies in the sector from 8 to 4.
In 2020, local reports said that the Supreme Petroleum Council and the KPC had already approved plans to restructure the oil sector in the belief that restructuring can bring significant benefits to the organization in the long run.
A similar restructuring by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) helped open the door for increased foreign investment in the UAE’s energy sector.
In May 2022, KPC said that it was studying selling shares in its affiliate, the Kuwait National Petroleum Company in the field of refining, processing and marketing, with the Supreme Purchasing Committee presenting a contract for a feasibility study regarding “the partial sale of shares in the KNPC.
Although Kuwait has publicly discussed restructuring its oil and gas sector for several years, no tangible progress has been made toward carrying out the planned mergers.