By B Izzak

KUWAIT: MP Khaled Al-Otaibi asked Oil Minister Mohammad Al-Fares on Sunday if Saturday's powerful earthquake that hit Kuwait was manmade because of oil production operations at Ahmadi oilfields. The lawmaker said in his question that the powerful earthquake measuring 5 on the Richter scale hit Kuwait early Saturday south of Ahmadi, and it was reported by scientists and experts that the cause of the earthquake was oil production operations.

Otaibi added that experts pointed out that the unprecedented earthquake was manmade, resulting from so-called hydraulic fracturing operations which pump large quantities of water into oil reservoirs. He said local experts advised the ministry of oil to follow the example after fracking earthquakes in the United States and halt such oil operations for two weeks to assess the impact, and then use alternative technologies, because the safety of the Kuwait population is more important than oil production.

The lawmaker specifically asked the minister for details about oil production in the last 12 months and whether the ministry has increased production recently. If the ministry did indeed hike production, what are the reasons for this and whether they are part of international agreements or a decision by the ministry, he asked.

Otaibi asked the minister if what happened was the result of fracking and pumping water and what measures had the ministry taken. In case the earthquake was manmade, has the ministry formed a committee to inspect the houses of people impacted by the earthquake and will the ministry bear the costs of losses and damages, he asked.

Meanwhile, the National Assembly's financial and economic affairs committee yesterday approved a proposal calling to increase marriage assistance provided to Kuwaitis to KD 8,000 from KD 6,000. Head of the committee MP Ahmad Al-Hamad said the proposal calls to consider half of the assistance as a gift while the second half will be considered as a soft loan to be repaid in easy installments.