State-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is planning to raise the number of active oil rigs in the country from 150 to 180 by the end of the year, according to its chief executive officer Nizar al-Adsani.

“We already have 150 rigs drilling in Kuwait and we are going to have 180 before the end of the year,” he said.

The announcement comes as Kuwait targets a production capacity of 4.75 million barrels a day (b/d) by 2040.

Al-Adsani described KPC’s plans as “aggressive”.

Earlier this month Kuwait's Oil Minister and Minister of Electricity and Water Bakheet al-Rashidi said that the volume of the country’s exports stood at around 2.1 million b/d and production stood at 2.7 million b/d.

Kuwait is currently complying with the existing Opec-led cuts agreement that includes 24 nations.

Because of this, current production is lower than Kuwait’s production capacity.

Kuwait currently has a crude production capacity of around 3.1 million b/d, excluding 250,000 b/d from the neutral zone with Saudi Arabia which has remained shut since October 2014.

In January KPC said that it is planning to spend $500bn on oil projects by 2040 with $114bn being spent over the next five years.