KUWAIT: Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has reached a historic milestone, with its heavy oil production surpassing 90,000 barrels per day (bpd) for the first time in the company’s history. This achievement comes as part of the North and West Kuwait Directorate’s ongoing efforts to expand production capabilities.

Eisa Al-Maraghi, Deputy CEO for North and West Kuwait, highlighted the significance of the achievement, calling it a “remarkable milestone” given the challenges associated with heavy oil production. He emphasized that the company had successfully overcome numerous hurdles, including the complexities of developing heavy oil fields, limited steam injection resources, and shortages in drilling rigs and maintenance capacity.

Al-Maraghi credited the success to the collaborative efforts of KOC teams, which accelerated the completion of key projects in the Ratqa field, a major heavy oil field in northern Kuwait. These efforts were further supported by KOC’s recent organizational transformation, which enhanced the flexibility and adaptability of the company’s operational structure, allowing teams to complete critical projects in record time.

A key factor in achieving this production level was the strong partnership with Shell International. Al-Maraghi praised the cooperative work between KOC and Shell, particularly through a developed technical services agreement that introduced best practices and innovative solutions to optimize steam usage. These initiatives played a critical role in addressing the challenges posed by steam shortages and enabled KOC to exceed its production goals.

Several strategies were implemented to improve efficiency, including the development of an automated tool to optimize steam allocation, the use of reverse osmosis water for enhanced efficiency, and comprehensive assessments to improve recovery rates. KOC also focused on enhancing well performance through continuous monitoring and real-time adjustments, all of which contributed to the success of the project.

This achievement is particularly meaningful for KOC as the company celebrates its 90th anniversary this year. Al-Maraghi expressed pride in the dedication and efforts of all employees who contributed to the success, underscoring that this milestone was a “gift” to the company on its anniversary.

Looking ahead, KOC has set ambitious targets for further growth. Al-Maraghi confirmed that the company is working towards increasing its heavy oil production to 100,000 barrels per day by the second quarter of 2025. Heavy oil was first discovered in 1979 in the south Ratqa field, with production briefly initiated in the early ‘80s before being halted by the Iraqi invasion in 1990. Operations resumed in 2006. The first phase of the project aims to produce 60,000 barrels per day (bpd), with plans to produce low-sulfur fuel for Kuwait’s new Al-Zour refinery. By May 2020, the project had reached 38,000 bpd and was expected to hit 60,000 bpd by September 2020, according to officials that year. The project also includes infrastructure for storage and gas production. — KUNA