SINGAPORE: Kuwait expects to seal new deals to supply Chinese buyers with crude amid healthy demand for its exports in Asia, an oil official from the OPEC Gulf producer told Reuters.
The country also plans to export a new light crude grade by January, as well as spending $120 billion (SR450 billion) over the next five years on expanding both its upstream and downstream businesses, said Waleed Al-Bader, deputy managing director marketing at state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC).
“We see now very healthy refining margins ... this is mainly because of the past months of the OPEC cuts,” Al-Bader said in an interview at the KPC office in Singapore on Wednesday, referring to a push led by Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to curb global crude supply.
“We see medium sour demand is very healthy and we have been approached by several customers for additional cargoes or for new contracts in China.”
The buyers include some small independent Chinese refiners, known as ‘teapots’, said Al-Bader, who was in China last week.
He added that there had been some “firm” enquiries from buyers, mainly for single initial shipments of 2 million barrels, with the potential for discussing term contracts for next year.
Kuwait also plans to start selling a new grade of crude called Kuwait Super Light from January, said Al-Bader. The new light sour grade has an API gravity of 47 and a sulfur content of 1.6 percent, Al-Bader said.
Production of the new grade could reach up to 120,000 barrels per day, he said, but the company is still studying the pricing mechanism for the grade.
The Gulf oil producer’s capital expenditure plan from 2017 until 2022-23 is $120 billion, with most spending planned for its upstream operations, he said.
Kuwait’s output capacity now stands at 3.2 million bpd, with the company aiming to boost that to around 3.3 million bpd by end of the next fiscal year. Kuwait has been pumping around 2.7 million bpd, sticking to it production target under the OPEC supply cut pact, Al-Bader said.
Al-Badr said that he expected OPEC to extend output cuts beyond March 2018, with KPC seeing oil prices in a range of $50-60 a barrel for next year.
Kuwait is also studying establishing a new firm to market refined oil products. The company would help Kuwait sell oil products mainly from its refining joint venture at Duqm in Oman.
“We have got the approvals ... on establishing the company. We have different options and scenarios and we are studying them,” Al-Bader said.
“Hopefully by end of this year, we will have a full report to present ... on how to move forward,” he said, adding that whether the new firm would be a joint venture with another international oil company or trading house, or would be wholly owned by KPC is still being studied.
Kuwait expects to seal new deals to supply oil to Chinese buyers
Kuwait expects to seal new deals to supply oil to Chinese buyers
Saudi stock market opens its doors to foreign investors
RIYADH: Foreigners will be able to invest directly in Saudi Arabia’s stock market from Feb. 1, the Kingdom’s Capital Market Authority has announced.
The CMA’s board has approved a regulatory change which will mean the capital market, across all its segments, will be accessible to investors from around the world for direct participation.
According to a statement, the approved amendments aim to expand and diversify the base of those permitted to invest in the Main Market, thereby supporting investment inflows and enhancing market liquidity.
International investors' ownership in the capital market exceeded SR590 billion ($157.32 billion) by the end of the third quarter of 2025, while international investments in the main market reached approximately SR519 billion during the same period — an annual rise of 4 percent.
“The approved amendments eliminated the concept of the Qualified Foreign Investor in the Main Market, thereby allowing all categories of foreign investors to access the market without the need to meet qualification requirements,” said the CMA, adding: “It also eliminated the regulatory framework governing swap agreements, which were used as an option to enable non-resident foreign investors to obtain economic benefits only from listed securities, and the allowance of direct investment in shares listed on the Main Market.”
In July, the CMA approved measures to simplify the procedures for opening and operating investment accounts for certain categories of investors. These included natural foreign investors residing in one of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, as well as those who had previously resided in the Kingdom or in any GCC country.
This step represented an interim phase leading up to the decision announced today, with the aim of increasing confidence among participants in the Main Market and supporting the local economy.
Saudi Arabia, which is more than halfway through an economic plan to reduce its dependence on oil, has been trying to attract foreign investors, including by establishing exchange-traded funds with Asian partners in Japan and Hong Kong.
