Belated progress on Kuwait's upstream ambitions
KOC is poised to deliver on offshore and gas plans after delays stretching back more than a decade
Government-owned Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) signed a contract in early July with a US oilfield services titan to carry out the country's first offshore drilling programme since the 1980s, after more than three years of repeatedly declaring the relaunch of maritime exploration to be imminent. Successive delays have similarly beset long-held plans to develop Jurassic gas reserves in the north of the country—a derogation made especially egregious by the country's chronic shortage of the resource. However, with a shortlist of contractors for the next phase now finalised, tenders are anticipated by the end of the quarter. KOC, the domestic upstream operating subsidiary of state oil conglomerate Ku
Also in this section
10 March 2026
Eni’s director for global gas and LNG portfolio, Cristian Signoretto, discusses how demand will respond to rising LNG supply, and how the company is expanding its own gas and LNG operations through disciplined, capital-efficient investments
9 March 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis sees increases in output from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Kazakhstan among others before region’s murky descent
9 March 2026
Energy sanctions are becoming an increasingly prominent tool of US foreign policy, with the country’s growth in oil and gas production allowing it to impose pressure on rivals without jeopardising its own energy security or that of its allies, argues Matthew McManus, a visiting fellow at the National Center for Energy Analytics
6 March 2026
The March 2026 issue of Petroleum Economist is out now!
