State upstream operator, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has discovered a new oil field in the west of Kuwait.

The discovery was announced by Hashem Sayed Hashem, KOC’s newly appointed chief executive officer on 17 July, according to state-run Kuwait News Agency (Kuna).

Hashem did not provide any details on the estimated reserves at the field, which was found in the Kabed area of western Kuwait near the existing Minagish oil field close to the border with Saudi Arabia, which accounts for 7 per cent of Kuwaiti production.

The Oil Ministry plans to boost capacity from 3.15 million b/d in 2011 to 3.5 million b/d in 2015 and potentially to 4 million b/d by 2020. To achieve this, it wants KOC to increase capacity at existing fields, develop the new northern Abdali, Bahra and Ratqa fields, and step up exploration activity. Kuwait also hopes to raise the output of the Divided Zone fields by 2015.