ShareKUWAIT: The National Assembly's budgets committee yesterday said two state-owned oil companies operating abroad have posted huge losses in the past few years. The committee said Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) posted losses worth $656 million in the 2015/2016 fiscal year. The company's production has remained at 69,000 barrels per day, unchanged for the past six years and it is highly expected to miss the 200,000 barrels per day target by 2020, the committee said.
It cited the Audit Bureau as saying that KUFPEC lost $143 million from projects in Pakistan, Malaysia and Sudan because of weak feasibility studies, as some of the projects did not have any hydrocarbon materials and the cost of production at others was very high. The committee called on KUFPEC to reassess the method of its acquisitions and making feasibility studies, adding that the company existed from a project in 2012 after losing $187 million and without taking any action despite administrative and financial violations. KUFPEC crude reserves have reached 453 million barrels, way below its strategic target of reaching 650 million barrels by 2020, the committee said.
The assembly panel also said that Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) posted a net profit of $237 million in the 2015/2016 fiscal year after years of losses that totaled over $2 billion. This came after the company sold off loss-making assets - mainly the Rotterdam refinery.
Opposition MP Al-Humaidi Al-Subaie said yesterday that it was time to propose a law to limit the duration of the public prosecutor. MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei proposed a draft law yesterday calling on authorities to give children of Kuwaiti women married to foreigners the same treatment as Kuwaiti citizens. In his proposal, Tabtabaei called on the interior ministry to issue a special travel document to children of Kuwaiti women residing in the country. The draft law calls to allow this category to be employed in government jobs and the right to public schools, healthcare, ownership and practice trade activities.
By B Izzak
