RIYADH: Kuwait’s oil production capacity is above 2.8 million barrels per day now, and is expected to reach 3 million bpd in 2025, according to Ahmed Jaber Al-Aydan, CEO of Kuwait Oil Co.
He also added that Kuwait is committed to the cuts decided by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and OPEC+.
Al-Aydan further noted that Kuwait will spend 13 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($42.48 billion) on oil projects during the next five years.
US drillers cut oil and gas rigs for seventh week in a row
US energy firms last week cut the number of oil and natural gas rigs operating for a seventh week in a row for the first time since July 2020, energy services firm Baker Hughes Co. said in its closely followed report.
The oil and gas rig count, an early indicator of future output, fell by eight to 687 in the week to June 16, the lowest since April 2022.
Baker Hughes said that puts the total count down by 53 rigs, or 7 percent, over this time last year.
US oil rigs fell by four to 552 last week, their lowest since April 2022, while gas rigs fell five to 130, their lowest since March 2022.
Two shale regions each lost four rigs last week, the Permian in Texas and New Mexico, the nation’s biggest oil basin, and the Marcellus in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, the nation’s biggest gas basin.
The rig count fell to 342 in the Permian, its lowest since September 2022, and 35 in the Marcellus, its lowest since March 2023, according to Baker Hughes.
Russia and Kazakhstan agree to extend oil transit to 2033: TASS
Russia and Kazakhstan have agreed to extend their agreement on transporting oil through Kazakhstan until 2033, the TASS news agency reported, citing Moscow’s Energy Ministry.
The agency cited the ministry as saying that the volume of oil transported through the country would amount to 10 million tons a year.
OPEC+ oil output cuts are non-political, says Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that decisions made by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+, to cut oil production were “depoliticized” and were not related to what Moscow calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“I have to tell you that all the decisions made within the framework of OPEC+ to reduce production are, above all, of a depoliticized nature,” Putin said in comments to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“This is neither related to Russia’s special military operations, nor to some other considerations,” said Putin, adding that the current oil pricing environment was suitable for Russia.
OPEC+ has in place cuts of 3.66 million barrels per day, amounting to 3.6 percent of global demand, including 2 million bpd agreed last year and voluntary cuts of 1.66 million bpd agreed in April.
Putin also said that Russia provides different discounts to its oil in various markets. The US said Kremlin’s changes to the way it taxes oil sales were forced by Western sanctions on Russia over Ukraine and will hit its oil production capacity over time.
He said that traditional Russian sales markets are being replaced by other markets as Moscow is shifting away its oil and gas trade away from Europe.
“We don’t see a catastrophe there,” Putin said.
(With input from Reuters)
