Mustafa al-Shimali

07 January 2014

Mustafa al-Shimali is former oil minister, Kuwait

Mustafa al-Shimali

Position: Former oil minister, Kuwait

Biography: This could be a big year for Kuwait’s oil sector, but much will depend on the ability of the latest oil minister, Mustafa al-Shimali, to push the country’s biggest ever projects through parliament. Al-Shimali has only been in the role since May, when he replaced Hani Hussain, an oil sector veteran.

Unlike Hussain, Al-Shimali is not an oil man, and has to combine his work in the sector with his duties as Kuwait’s finance minister. Kuwait is expected to make contract awards for the $16.5bn Clean Fuels Project in 2014, and to issue tenders for the $15bn New Refinery Project.

The downstream schemes are critical to meeting the country’s growing power generation needs, but in the case of the new refinery, they have faced intense political scrutiny. There are also upstream oil and gas developments that require urgent attention if Kuwait is to meet its production goals.

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