Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), the country’s onshore oil producer, says it has achieved enormous energy savings by cutting gas flaring and increasing the efficiency of its facilities, the MEED Kuwait Energy & Efficiency Conference was told on 2 June 2013.

“KOC has made huge strides in driving down gas flaring in their operations over the last six years, from 17 per cent to 1 per cent of gas production,” KOC deputy managing director for north Kuwait Hosnia Hashim said. “The reduction in flaring has led to a gain of KD780 million ($2.75bn).”

Additionally, the KOC has reduced the amount power used in its facilities by 21 per cent, or 33MW a day, and saved a further 7.76MW a day in the Ahmadi township by introducing new technologies. Hashim said that the KOC now closes facilities with large energy needs during the summer.

Other initiatives include the an enhanced oil recovery programme that will optimise the use of water and the introduction of solar lighting at manifolds and in the Ahmadi township. “There is a medium-sized solar pilot project under construction to test photovoltaic cells and concentrated solar power,” Hashim said.