Sources close to the state upstream operator say that a tender for the pilot project is scheduled to be issued for bid in March this year.

The scheme will use effluent water produced from wells to reinject back into the reservoir to maintain pressure and increase crude output. Should the pilot project prove a success it could be implemented at the field on a much larger scale.

Water production rates are rising rapidly in Kuwait’s ageing oil fields, and dealing with it is a growing concern for the state.

In western Kuwait, more than 250,000 barrels of water a day are reinjected into the Minagish and Umm Ghudair reservoirs which together have a total oil output of about 220,000 barrels a day (b/d).

In the north, KOC has tendered an estimated $750m engineering, procurement and construction contract to reinject effluent water into the Rawdhatain and Sabriya fields.

The project covers the upgrade of gathering centres 15, 23 and 25 to treat produced water, which is then desalinated and mixed with seawater before being reinjected back into the reservoirs. The bid deadline for the contract is 5 March (MEED 12:10:07).

The Dharif field lies to the southwest of Kuwait City, alongside the larger Khashman deposit. It was discovered in 1988, and was one of the few Kuwaiti fields left undisturbed by the Iraqi invasion in 1990. Its peak production capacity is thought to be about 30,000 b/d.