KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait Petroleum Corp. expects to spend more than $500 billion as it boosts its crude oil production capacity to 4.75 million barrels per day in 2040, the national oil firm said on Wednesday, outlining ambitious growth plans for the next two decades.
“KPC is expected to spend $114 billion in capex over the next five years and an additional $394 billion beyond that to 2040,” Chief Executive Nizar Al-Adsani told an oil industry conference.
Kuwait’s current oil production capacity is around 3.15 million bpd. It revealed the plan to lift capacity to 4.75 million bpd early last year.
The figure would exceed the current output of Iraq and Iran, OPEC’s second and third biggest oil nations, whose production was 4.4 million and 3.8 million bpd respectively in December.
Iraq and Iran plan to raise output steeply in the coming years to compete with OPEC leader Saudi Arabia, which produces around 10 million bpd and has capacity of more than 12 million bpd.
However, Iraq and Iraq are running far behind their targets to expand output because of infrastructure constraints, red tape and, in the case of Iran, the threat of Western sanctions.
The move by Kuwait to expand capacity signals a willingness among OPEC producers to fight for market share in the long term as global oil demand rises and as the organization faces competition from Russia and two fast-emerging oil superpowers, the US and Brazil.
Al-Adsani also told the conference that KPC intended to lift domestic oil refining capacity to
2 million bpd by 2035, while ensuring maximum offtake of domestic heavy oil production and taking into consideration the need to meet local energy demand.
KPC recently began a pre-feasibility study to lift refining capacity inside Kuwait by almost 300,000 bpd, Al-Adsani said without elaborating. Capacity was estimated at 936,000 bpd in 2015, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
The company intends to expand into downstream derivative and specialty petrochemical products at facilities inside and outside the country, Al-Adsani added.
Meanwhile, non-associated natural gas production in Kuwait is to increase to 2.5 billion cubic feet per day (cfd) in 2040, from 0.5 billion cfd expected in April 2018 and 1 billion cfd by 2023, Al-Adsani said.
As part of efforts to reduce emissions of harmful gases, KPC’s future power plants will be gas-fired, although it will use renewable energy when that makes commercial sense, he added.
Kuwait Petroleum to spend over $500bn by 2040
Kuwait Petroleum to spend over $500bn by 2040
Oman trade surplus drops to 42% to $10bn amid weaker oil exports
JEDDAH: Oman’s trade surplus fell 42 percent to more than 3.88 billion Omani rials ($10 billion) by the end of September, down from over 6.74 billion rials in the same period of 2024, according to official data.
Preliminary figures from the National Centre for Statistics and Information showed the decline was largely driven by a drop in oil and gas exports, the Oman News Agency reported.
Oman’s trade profile remains anchored in hydrocarbons, with mineral fuels, oils and related products consistently the largest export category, even as non-oil segments such as plastics, iron and steel contribute to diversification.
The data highlights Oman’s ongoing efforts to diversify its economy, with non-oil exports continuing to grow despite declines in the hydrocarbon sector.
“This decrease is mainly attributed to the decline in Oman’s oil and gas exports by 16.5 percent to reach 10.92 billion rials by the end of September 2025, compared to 13.07 billion rials during the same period in 2024,” the ONA report stated.
It added: “In contrast, non-oil merchandise exports to the Sultanate of Oman grew by 10.3 percent to reach a value of 5 billion rials by the end of September 2025, compared to 4.53 billion rials during the same period in 2024.”
Overall merchandise exports declined 9.1 percent to 17.18 billion rials, while re-exports fell 2.6 percent to 1.27 billion rials.
Registered imports increased 9.3 percent to 13.30 billion rials, up from 12.16 billion rials a year earlier.
Among trading partners, the UAE led non-oil exports at 945 million rials, up 28.3 percent, and remained the top re-export destination at 484 million rials.
The UAE was also Oman’s largest source of imports at 3.07 billion rials, followed by China with 1.35 billion rials and Kuwait with 1.15 billion rials.
Saudi Arabia and India were the next-largest recipients of non-oil exports, while Iran and the Kingdom followed in re-exports.
Financial strength
Oman’s financial activity remained robust, with total credit extended by local banks rising 9 percent to 34.7 billion rials by the end of October.
Lending to the private sector increased 5.8 percent to 28.3 billion rials, according to the Central Bank of Oman. Non-financial corporates accounted for 46.8 percent of total credit, while individuals held 44.7 percent. Financial corporates and other sectors made up the remaining 8.5 percent.
Bank deposits rose 3.5 percent to 33 billion rials, while private sector deposits increased 9.4 percent to 22.3 billion rials. Individuals accounted for the largest share at 50.4 percent, followed by non-financial corporates at 30.3 percent and financial corporates at 17.2 percent.
