Kuwait aims for investment reset

NOC reflates its spending and projects grind forward. But no-one should expect miracles

The Kuwaiti government has approved a sizeable hike in state-owned oil producer Kuwait Petroleum Corporation's (KPC’s) budget for the year from 1 April—reversing some of the swingeing capex cuts ordered 12 months previously—as this year’s oil price recovery and a gradual easing of Opec+ production shackles offer the prospect of alleviating the firm’s financial pressures. It remains too early to get overly excited. The coronavirus pandemic and associated oil price slump did not spark but merely exacerbated chronic problems afflicting Kuwait's oil and gas sector. Political obstruction in the Mid-East Gulf’s most obstreperous parliament and the eye-watering inefficiency of a labyrinthine bureau