KUWAIT: A fire that erupted at an oil well in northern Kuwait has been extinguished, KUNA reported yesterday. Government-run Kuwait Oil Co announced the fire earlier in the day, with an official saying that firefighters were working to put it out. Company spokesman Saad Al-Azmi was quoted by KUNA saying the incident began with an oil spill that happened late Tuesday. He did not specify where it took place or anything about its size. Prime Minister HH Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah later visited the site and praised efforts that led to "the speedy extinguishing of the fire".

Azmi earlier said that thick gas seen being emitted at the site was "caused by putting out the blaze". He said "no reading of any H2S (hydrogen sulfide) gas leak from the incident" had been recorded at the oilfield. KUNA said that the Environmental Public Authority confirmed that the gas contained no hazardous elements. In a later statement, Azmi said the spill had not affected KOC's operations and production processes in Kuwait, a major oil producer and OPEC member. Kuwaiti media published photos of a fire it said was burning at the scene. TheA l-Rai news service said photos of a large fire were circulating on social media.

Separately, Kuwait signed a deal to export 100,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) with a major refiner, with a potential annual return of $2 billion, KUNA reported yesterday. "The contract is one of the important strategic agreements that reinforces Kuwait's position as a main oil supplier in the Asian markets," Nabil Bouresli, managing director of international marketing at Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) was quoted by KUNA as saying. Kuwait plans to raise its crude oil production by 150,000 bpd in the third quarter and aims to sign new export deals with European customers soon, Bouresli has said earlier this month. - Agencies

Tiny OPEC member Kuwait is a major oil producer. The U.S. Energy Information Administration says Kuwait produces some 2.6 million barrels of crude oil a day and holds the world's sixth-largest oil reserves.

171516 GMT Feb 16