KUWAIT: Kuwait has made three oil and gas discoveries, including one next to the giant Burgan field, the country's biggest, potentially helping to boost the reserves of OPEC's fourth largest producer. Minister of Oil and Minister of Electricity and Water Mohammad Al-Fares announced yesterday the discovery of two new oilfields of Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) in different regions of the country, in addition to the discovery of the extension of the northern part of the Great Burgan field.

In a statement to KUNA, Fares said the first discovery was in Houma field northwest of the country, with production capacity of 1,452 barrels per day (bpd) of light oil. The second was in Al-Qashaniya in northern Kuwait, with production capacity of 1,819 bpd of light oil and 2.78 million cubic feet of associated gas per day. This discovery has great economic importance as it sheds light on large undiscovered areas in the western and northwestern parts of Kuwait, which will contribute directly to increasing oil reserves and the production capacity according to KOC's 2040 strategic plan, he said.

Fares also noted the two new discoveries add strategic importance to the northern part of Kuwait, as the area has not been explored before. A conventional oilfield was also discovered in the north of the Great Burgan field, as oil flowed in commercial quantities from several wells drilled during 2020 to determine the extent of the field, with a daily production rate of more than 2,000 barrels, Fares added.

The results give KOC access to easy and low-cost reserves, which supports the company's efforts to maintain its competitive advantage between countries and oil companies, indicating that the company will drill new wells in the discovered fields to boost production, he said. Fares praised the success of KOC in achieving these three discoveries in 2020, despite the conditions that the country faced in light of the COVID pandemic. - KUNA