Sami al-Rushaid, managing director of state-run Kuwait Oil Co (KOC), has said the country is making progress in talks on technical service agreements with international energy firms and discussions could be finished this year, Reuters has reported. Rushaid did not name the firm or firms with which he hoped the talks would be completed this year. The Gulf state is looking to expand oil production capacity to 4 million barrels per day (bpd) from 3 million bpd by 2020 and sustain that higher level for 10 years.