KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait is starting to reap the rewards of contracts signed in 2016, with state-owned upstream operator Kuwait Oil Co. beginning operations at a new facility to produce light oil and gas from the West al-Rawdatain field Saturday, which will be combined with output from other fields for the country’s newest crude blend to be launched in April. The new early production facility was officially opened Saturday by oil minister Bakheet al-Rashidi, state-run Kuna news agency said in a statement Sunday.
It is the second of three projects expected to come on line this year. All three are part of the wider Jurassic gas project, which aims to exploit Kuwait’s technically challenging deep and sour non-associated gas resources. The first facility at the Umm Niqa and Al-Sabriya fields was opened earlier this month. Built by US-based contractor Schlumberger under a 2016 deal, it can produce around 100 MMcf/d of gas and 40,000 b/d of light oil. The final facility at the East Rawdatain field is expected to begin production in the “coming months,” the oil ministry said in a statement. That will lift non-associated gas production to 500 MMcf/d, along with 200,000 b/d of light oil, it added.
Crude from the fields will be blended to make KPC’s “Super Light” crude oil grade, which it hopes to start exporting from April. The crude grade will have an API gravity of 48 degrees, with 0.4% sulfur content. Kuwait currently only has one export grade, with a typical API gravity of 31 degrees. It exports around 2 million b/d of that crude, from Kuwait’s production capacity of just over 3 million b/d. Most of its exports sail to Asia, along with 8% to the US and 7% to Europe. The Super Light grade will be followed in August 2018 by the launch of a Kuwait Heavy grade at the other end of the spectrum with an API of 16 degrees and 4.9% sulfur content. Exports will start at 20,000 b/d, but will gradually rise to more than 90,000 b/d. Wafaa al-Zaabi, deputy managing director of KOC’s parent company Kuwait Petroleum Corp., said January 12 that Kuwait was producing 200 MMcf/d of non-associated gas, and was expected to reach 500 MMcf/d by mid-2018. This will increase to 1 Bcf/d by 2020, she added, with the completion of the Jurassic Gas Facility 1. Construction of the facility was only tendered in September last year, with bids due at the end of February, so it appears unlikely to be completed by 2020. It will add 590 MMcf/d of gas capacity along with 220,000 b/d of light oil. However, KPC has pushed back its plans to increase non-associated gas production to 2 Bcf/d. It had originally hoped to reach this level by 2025, but now does not expect to hit the target until 2040.
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