Kuwait’s oil production is expected to reach 3.255 million barrels a-day (b/d) by March-end 2018, the country’s Oil Minister Bakheet Al-Rashidi has said.

Kuwait is currently producing a reduced amount of about 2.7 million b/d as part of its commitment to the international oil reduction pact, Al-Rashidi has told the official Kuwait News Agency (Kuna), adding that the country’s exports presently stand at 2.1 million b/d.

The in-force pact between member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), of which Kuwait is a number, and a group of 11 non-Opec oil producers has been largely credited for being the catalyst boosting crude oil prices, which are currently trading around the $70 a barrel mark.

On the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s plans to raise the Gulf state’s output to 4 million b/d by 2020 and 4.75 million b/d by 2040, the minister said the state-owned energy body plans to invest considerably in exploration and development of production, including the development of heavy and light oil reserves to achieve the production goals.

With regards to Kuwait’s ambitious Al-Zour refinery project, Al-Rashidi said about 45 per cent of work on the complex is completed, and it is due to be completed by 2019. MEED has however reported that the project may be delayed due to an issue over a key pipeline.