Parliamentary Committee on Budget and the Final Accounts has called on the government to review estimated oil revenues and increase efforts to raise production of crude oil. The committee pointed out that if production capacity is not increased, it would be difficult to meet the internal needs of the country, as the new Al-Zour Refinery and Clean Fuels Project would require over 46 percent of current production or around 1.42 million barrels per day when it begins operating under full capacity.
The committee’s report also noted that unless oil revenues are reviewed the General Reserve Fund on which the government depends to overcome budget deficits could be depleted and this would reflect on Kuwait’s international ratings.
The report drew attention to the fact that although crude production had been suspended from the Divided Zone in 2014, a sum of KD313 million was being budgeted and deducted directly from oil revenues, as expenses by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC).
The report also highlighted that KPC and its subsidiaries have changed their operational strategies several times during the period from 2009 to 2019. The crude oil production target until 2015 was 3.5 million barrels per day, increasing to 4 million barrels by 2020 and stabilizing at 4.75 million barrels per day by 2040.
However, the report pointed out that current crude production in the country was 434,000 barrels per day short of the 2015 target and 934,000 barrels short of the projected target for 2020.