Page 13 - MEOG Week 32 2021

MEOG PROJECTS & COMPANIES MEOG
KPC qualifies local companies for oilfield work
KUWAIT
STATE-OWNED Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC) is reported to have qualified around 70 local companies to gain priority for work on small and medium oilfield projects under the emirate’s Badir initiative.
KPC sources were quoted by local media out- let Al-Anba as saying that the company has set a list of prerequisites for qualification for work under the programme. They added that more firms are likely to be qualified for the scheme for contracts covering supplies, manufacturing and oilfield services.
One source said: “KPC has set specific terms for any company wishing to be qualified for future contracts ... they include providing accu- rate data on financial resources, profits and sales in the past three years.”
Any company wishing to qualify must have been in business for at least one year.
Kuwait’s hydrocarbon sector strategy has been chopped and changed several times over the past year as the oil-dependent state has sought to insulate its economy from the dual
threat of low oil prices and weak oil demand while also battling the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
Tendering for major gas and heavy oil pro- jects has been announced only for bidding to be called off soon after.
However, last month, KPC’s upstream-fo- cused subsidiary said it would drill more than 750 wells in the north of the country as it seeks to increase its oil production capacity despite having shelved two phases of its key Jurassic gas development.
The plan is central to KPC achieving its stra- tegic objective increasing oil production capacity to 4mn barrels per day (bpd) by 2040, up from the current 3.1-3.2mn bpd.
In 2019, Kuwait said it would reach the 4mn bpd level by the end of 2020, with capacity to grow to 4.75mn bpd by 2040, but the targets were realigned as the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) on spending was felt. In 2020, the emirate produced an average of 2.43mn bpd despite output falling to 2.085mn bpd in June.™
Week 32 11•August•2021 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P13