Oil & Gas

Shaikh Nawaf Al-Sabah, the chief executive of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), stated in an interview with Bloomberg that global oil demand appears strong in a balanced market this year. He emphasized that the market remains healthy on the demand side, attributing part of the recent growth in world oil consumption to rising U.S. shale production.

Kuwait, a significant producer in the Middle East and member of OPEC, is among several OPEC+ members that have announced additional voluntary production cuts for the first quarter of 2024. These producers have now agreed to extend the production cuts until the end of the second quarter, maintaining total cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd) until at least June 2024. The cuts will be gradually lifted based on market conditions, according to OPEC.

As part of its voluntary cuts, Kuwait has committed to reducing its crude oil production by 135,000 bpd. Shaikh Nawaf highlighted that OPEC+ has additional spare capacity, which contributes to market stability.

Despite the current output cuts, Kuwait remains committed to its plan to increase its oil production capacity to 4 million bpd by 2035, anticipating strong demand growth. Shaikh Nawaf stated that this goal is part of Kuwait's strategy, as they believe the demand for Kuwait crude will reach that level.

Kuwait's positive outlook on both near-term and long-term demand aligns with OPEC's projections, which foresee robust oil demand growth in 2024, 2025, and beyond.