Kuwait is preparing to issue tenders for the development of the Mutraba oilfield, nearly 15 years after its discovery, according to reports.
The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is expected to invite four global companies to bid on the project. Located in Northwest Kuwait, the Mutraba field is projected to produce over 30,000 barrels per day once development is completed. The report did not disclose the names of the companies expected to participate in the bidding process.
The Kuwait Oil Company, responsible for the country’s upstream oil activities, has already conducted 3-D seismic surveys of the field in preparation for its development.
Earlier this year, Kuwait, OPEC’s fifth-largest crude producer, announced the discovery of substantial commercial quantities of oil and gas, marking a major milestone in its efforts to expand hydrocarbon reserves.
Preliminary estimates suggest that the newly discovered Al-Nokhatha field, located east of Failaka Island, holds approximately 2.1 billion barrels of light oil and 5.1 trillion cubic feet of gas, equivalent to about 3.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, according to the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC).
The Al-Nokhatha field covers around 96 square kilometers, with reserves comparable to Kuwait’s entire oil production over the next three years, as stated by Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah, CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), KOC’s parent company.
Currently, the field produces about 2,800 barrels of light oil and 7 million cubic meters of associated gas per day. Last year, Kuwait announced its goal to raise oil production capacity to 3.15 million barrels per day (bpd) within four years, up from 2.7 million bpd at the time.
As the holder of the world’s seventh-largest oil reserves, Kuwait also aims to boost natural gas production by 79% to 930 million cubic feet per day (cfpd) over the same period, while targeting a refining capacity of 1.45 million bpd.
In line with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s 2040 strategy, the country plans to increase its crude oil production capacity to 4 million bpd by 2035 and maintain that level until the end of the following decade.
