Kuwait’s Oil Minister Ali al-Omair and the CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), Nizar Mohammad al-Adsani, are refusing to meet with each other on any issue in a development that could paralyse oil and gas projects in the country.

Sources say that if the two officials refuse to cooperate then all of Kuwait’s oil and gas schemes that are yet to enter the execution phase will come to a standstill.

“If the CEO of KPC and the oil minister continue to refuse to be in the same room, everything will stop,” says one senior industry source.

The dispute is understood to focus on efforts by the Oil Ministry to appoint new members to KPC’s board.

Al-Adsani has said the ministry does not have the legal power to make appointments.

If the dispute continues, all projects that are being tendered or are the subject of studies will stall as they fail to obtain necessary approvals, according to industry sources.

This includes the Al-Zour New Refinery Project (NRP), which is due to see packages worth $10bn-$14bn awarded this year.

“Cooperation between these two figures is essential to seeing projects progress,” says one source.

“If there are no clear signals from the top then other officials working for the ministry and government-owned oil companies will hold back from making decisions.”

When an evaluation is completed or a tender is being prepared, approval for the next phase of the project needs to be granted by the KPC board, which requires the participation of the oil minister – who is also the chairman of KPC – as well KPC’s CEO, Al-Adsani.

Industry sources say projects are already seeing the effects of the dispute between Al-Omair and Al-Adsani.

“Officials are sitting on their hands and delays are stacking up,” says one source.

Another source says the severity of the situation could lead to more senior Kuwaiti figures stepping in to try and resolve the dispute.

“Both figures are very well connected and they are drawing upon all of their resources,” says the source. “We are expecting higher powers to step in and resolve the situation. It is really inconceivable that this will be allowed to continue.”

Although the dispute is expected to have wide-ranging ramifications for oil and gas projects in Kuwait, schemes that are already under execution, such as the $16bn Clean Fuels Project (CFP), are expected to continue to see progress.

KPC has not responded to MEED inquiries about the nature of the dispute between Al-Adsani and Kuwait’s oil ministry.

KPC is a government-owned holding company and has eight subsidiaries, including upstream operator Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) and downstream operator Kuwait National Petroleum Corporation (KNPC).