The fifth biggest producer in OPEC, Kuwait, has had its hydrocarbon reserves boosted following a discovery of large volumes of oil and gas in the Al-Nokhatha field.
The Al-Nokhatha field is located east of Failaka, a Kuwaiti island. The state-owned Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) says that based on preliminary estimates, the field could yield 3.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, with this comprising 5.1 trillion standard cubic feet of natural gas and 2.1 billion barrels of light crude oil.
The newly discovered field is estimated to cover an area of around 96 square kilometres.
The Al-Nokhatha field currently yields about 7 million cubic meters of associated natural gas and 2,800 barrels of light oil each day. However, KOC says that the preliminary findings suggest that there is considerable potential to boost the quantities of hydrocarbon resources within the discovered field in various reservoirs and layers.
The company said in a statement published by Kuna, the state news agency:
“Based on initial test results, a development plan will be established to commence actual production from the field at the earliest opportunity, boosting KOC’s production capacity and laying another cornerstone for achieving its 2040 strategy.”
Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah—the CEO of parent company Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, which also owns the Q8 brand of industrial and agricultural oil and grease products—said on X in a video that the new reserves would amount to three years of the country’s whole production. The news came as the Kuwaiti Government announced a projected multibillion dollar deficit for the coming fiscal year.
