Kuwait plans to increase production of non-associated gas to nearly 500 million standard cubic feet a day (scf/d) by the end of 2018, Oil Minister Bakhit al-Rashidi has said.

Kuwait's refining and petrochemical sector consumes about 60 per cent of its natural gas, and the remaining 40 per cent is used for power generation, the minister said at an event in Kuwait City on 16 April.

"We believe that the future expansion of energy demand requires timely investments in all forms of energy,” Al-Rashidi said in his keynote speech at the opening of the Fifth Kuwait Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition.

“We urge the development of clean fossil fuels and for the promotion of associated technologies including the effective usage of carbon capture and storage," he said.

State-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation will invest in exploration activities to develop and produce non-associated natural gas in Kuwait, with a target to achieve 2.5 billion scf/d by 2040, the minister said.