Overview
Kuwait is a major oil supplier and a member of the OPEC consortium. Oil accounts for around 95 percent of exports and approximately 90 percent of government revenue. Kuwait holds approximately 7 percent of global oil reserves and has a current production capacity of about 3.15 million barrels per day.
The country’s oil sector is run by the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), a state-owned company. KPC has several companies operating beneath it, known as the “K-Companies”. Upstream operations are primarily handled by Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), the largest state-owned oil company by revenue and responsible for oil production, while downstream operations are handled by Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC).
Name of State-Owned Company in Oil Sector | Function |
Upstream Subsidiaries Responsible for Exploration and Production | |
Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) | Responsible for exploration and production of oil and gas within Kuwait. It is the largest state-owned oil company by revenue. |
Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC) | Responsible for the onshore/offshore operations of Kuwait’s 50 percent share of the Partitioned Neutral Zone between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. |
Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) | Responsible for oil and gas exploration and production activities outside of Kuwait. |
Downstream Subsidiaries Responsible for Refining and Transportation | |
Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) | Responsible for refining, liquefied gas operations and for the marketing of petroleum products within Kuwait. |
Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC) | Responsible for operating and managing an integrated complex for refining, manufacturing petrochemicals, and importing natural gas at the Al-Zour complex in Kuwait. |
Petrochemicals Industries Company (PIC) | Responsible for manufacturing and marketing petrochemical products including the $2 billion dollar EQUATE petrochemical joint venture project with Dow Chemical. |
Kuwait Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) | Responsible for the transport of crude oil, refined products and liquified petroleum gas. |
Kuwait Petroleum International Limited (KPI) | Responsible for refining and marketing operations outside Kuwait, primarily in Europe and Southeast Asia. |
KPC announced its intention to increase oil production capacity to 4 million barrels per day (mmb/d) by 2035, and to increase natural gas production to 4 billion cubic feet per day by 2030. Future production increases will depend on actual implementation of several upstream projects including the development of heavy oil capacity of 60 thousand barrels per day.
On October 2024, KPC confirmed plans to spend $410 billion on its long-term energy strategy, KPC is planning to spend $300 billion on conventional energy projects while $110 billion will be spent on energy transition projects.
Clean Energy
In March 2024, the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy (MEWRE) announced Kuwait’s renewable energy strategy (2030 to 2050). The new strategy includes 12 mega projects, aimed to install 22 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2030 and increase production from 15 percent to 30 percent by 2030. Kuwait has a national goal to reach a net zero carbon emissions in the oil and gas sector by 2050 (all other sectors by 2060). It is currently developing large-scale clean energy projects with low-carbon technologies ranging from solar to wind, and green hydrogen to electric vehicles.
In July 2024, the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) awarded U.S.-headquartered KBR with an advisory consulting contract to develop a country-wide masterplan to produce 17GW of renewables and 25GW of green hydrogen. KBR will provide advisory consulting services to develop a phased strategy for the deployment of wind and solar power, combined with power storage capability. The renewable power capability will be linked to the production of green hydrogen for internal industrial use, as well as for export purposes. This work is expected to be performed over the next 18 months.
Dibdibah Power and Al -Shagaya Renewable Energy - Phase Three Project: an integrated electricity production project using photovoltaic (PV) and concentrated solar power (CSP). In August 2024 MEWRE, through the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (KAPP), prequalified six consortiums that can bid on a contract to develop the first phase of the project with 1,100mw solar PV. The succeeding phases are projected to be: 200mw for phase two, 1,500mw for phase three and 4,500mw for phase four.
Kuwait’s energy transition strategy outlines a roadmap for future energy growth opportunities such as 1- Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) to offset emissions, 2- Biofuels to meet the global market demand with focus on second generation biofuels, 3- Petrochemical recycling with focus on reprocessing waste plastic materials into functional products.
The mega-project “Clean Fuels Project,” which upgraded and expanded the Mina Abdulla and Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery complexes, was completed in November 2021, with total current production capacity at 800,000 barrels per day. KNPC awarded four packages in 2015 to build the country’s fourth refinery, which will produce low-sulfur fuel oil for the country’s power plants. The $15 billion Al-Zour Refinery was established under the Kuwait Integrated Petrochemical Industries Company and became fully operational in 2023. The complex is anticipated to combine the Al-Zour Refinery with the planned $10 billion Petrochemicals Complex (project cost: $10 billion) and a $4 billion gas import facility which was completed in November 2021.
U.S. oil companies, manufacturers, and suppliers of oil field equipment have a strong presence in the Kuwaiti market and are viewed very favorably. However, during the global pandemic, low oil prices made Kuwait price sensitive and looked for lower-cost suppliers from Asia.
Kuwait is an important player in global oil refining. Currently, it has three local refineries (Mina Al-Ahmadi, Mina Abdullah and Al-Zour Refinery) and holds stakes in three international refineries in Italy, Oman, and Vietnam.
Opportunities
Although Kuwait does not allow private sector investment in the upstream oil market, the oil and gas sector will continue to be a leading sector for U.S. businesses.
Best prospects in this sector include consulting services; Front End Engineering Design (FEED), Project Management Consultancy (PMC): Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) services; refining technologies; environment consultants; control and instrumentation systems; and secondary recovery systems. The demand for drilling services and equipment should be strong due to Kuwait’s goal of increasing its oil and gas production capacity over the next ten years by developing heavy oil fields and offshore production. A pipeline is also planned as well as other petrochemical production facilities.
The Digitalization of Kuwait’s Oil Fields
Kuwait Oil Company (state-owned company for upstream operations) announced its five-year digital transformation strategy aimed to implement the latest technologies into its operations. KOC allocated an $800 million budget for its digital transformation. Their Big Data Galaxy scheme includes 11 sub-projects for developing the IT infrastructure and digitizing data and operations to enhance predictive maintenance, improving exploration, and increasing oil production.
U.S. companies that specialize in advanced solutions for monitoring oil production including cloud platforms, real-time monitoring, workflow improvement, and cybersecurity capabilities have market potential, provided their technology is proven, and the company is willing to go through the pre-qualification process. As a precursor to a larger project, the Kuwait Oil Company may ask selected vendors to run a pilot project on a small scale to ensure the viability of the technology in Kuwait’s harsh environment.
In addition to the pre-qualification process, U.S. companies seeking to do business in the oil sector are required to appoint a local partner. The Commercial Service recommends finding a local partner who is well-connected and has significant experience working with state-owned companies.
The Pre-Qualification Process
Working with state-owned oil companies requires a pre-qualification exercise using approved contractors, manufacturers, and service providers. Having a local agent is not mandatory during the prequalification stage; however, U.S. companies should have a local partner to bid on projects. The partnership can take any form of business structure. Both forming a joint venture and sub-contracting are very common in the oil sector.
The U.S. Commercial Service in Kuwait recommends that U.S. companies work with a strong and well-connected Kuwaiti company from the beginning to help market their products to end-users and to support the pre-qualification process which frequently can be lengthy and require significant effort.
On April 2024, KPC launched its own tendering portal (K-Tendering Portal) www.ktendering.com.kw, with the objective of streamlining the processes of registration, qualification, and tender submissions.
Supplier Registration and Pre-Qualification Steps:
1. Access the URL: www.ktendering.com.kw.
2. Click on “Supplier Registration”.
3. To register, go to the Registration page. Fill in Organization details, including the License Number in the chamber of commerce field. Remember the username for logging in.
4. You will be directed to the Registration form page where you need to fill in all mandatory details. Conditional forms will appear if the response is “Yes”, and you must complete them before clicking “Confirm”.
5. Once the Supplier registration form is completed, the supplier will be directed to the Registration confirmation form page. On this page, the supplier will confirm if the request forms are ready for evaluation by clicking ‘confirm’.
6. After completing the registration process, users will see the Registration Summary page displaying the status of the submitted forms. After filling out all the required information, an email containing a temporary password for the portal will be sent to the registered email address.
7. Enter your username and password (which were received in the email) and click on “Continue”. Read the User Agreement, choose the “I agree” option if you agree with the user agreement, or else choose either, then click “Continue”. Then set a new password and click submit.
Regional Oil and Gas Show
Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC), November 2-5, 2026, Abu Dhabi (UAE), www.adipec.com. ADIPEC is the world’s largest energy exhibition and conference, bringing together over 184,000 energy professionals to discover the latest strategies, technologies, and innovations that are defining the future of energy.
Resources
For further information about oil and gas sector, please contact Commercial Assistant Alaa Zayed at Alaa.Zayed@trade.gov.
- Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.
- KPC and Subsidiaries K-Tendering Portal.
- Kuwait Oil Company.
- Kuwait National Petroleum Company