Kuwait's big plans, tricky politics

Kuwait still hopes production will rise considerably between now and the end of the decade, but must overcome a number of hurdles

DESPITE myriad difficulties, Kuwait is unmoved: it will, says the oil ministry, increase its liquids production to 4m barrels a day by 2020. Liquids, though, will be the key. The country’s authorities now say the target is to be met not by crude alone but with help from the Jurassic gasfields, to the tune of at least 300,000 b/d. The crude target now stands at 3.65m b/d, a level it will sustain for a decade. Can the market rely on the numbers? Crude production is now 2.9m b/d and, whatever the will of the ministry, Kuwait’s daunting investment climate is an obstacle to growth. Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), charged with pushing through the expansion, has had a rough go of it lately, facing battle