The merger of several subsidiaries of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) into an integrated company is still the subject of ongoing studies and any decision to this effect will take place only after the conclusion of these extensive studies and the necessary approvals.
The explanation from KPC came following confusion with regard to a statement attributed to the CEO of Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), Waleed Al-Bader, who was quoted as saying that Kuwait Integrated Petrochemical Industry Company (KIPIC) and Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) would be merged with KNPC.
An official at KPC clarified that the remarks made by the CEO of KNPC were misinterpreted and inaccurate and that they came in response to a query by a staff member during an unofficial meeting about the merger process pending final studies. The official pointed out that in the event a final approval was given for the merger, it would still take up to 18 months for the arrangements and coordination among the different subsidiaries to be completed.
In the meantime, it was revealed that one of KPC subsidiaries, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has achieved 90 percent Kuwaitization of jobs. In 2019, over 662 new Kuwaiti graduates were added to the company payroll to bring the total number of Kuwaitis employed in KOC to 9,560. On the other hand, Kuwaitization of jobs with subcontractors of the company still remained below 27 percent.