Kuwait is advancing its ambitious oil sector expansion programme, awarding a raft of new contracts designed to galvanise its long-term strategy of boosting hydrocarbon output. The state-owned Kuwait Oil Co. (KOC) has finalised deals that underpin a capital-intensive drive to raise production capacity towards 4mn barrels per day by 2035.

In the latest series of awards, KOC, the upstream subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC), has committed to new projects with a combined value of KWD 224mn ($733mn). According to the local Arabic language Al-Rai daily, companies from the US, China, and Italy secured the majority of these contracts, which are focused on developing oil fields and enhancing infrastructure, including crude oil flow and deposit evaluation. These awards form part of a broader plan confirmed by KPC’s CEO to invest up to $50bn over the next five years to expand the nation’s oil and gas capacity.

A critical component of this strategy is the revival of the country’s stalled heavy oil programme. US engineering group KBR has been awarded a key contract to provide front-end engineering design (FEED) for the next expansion phase of the South Ratqa field.

This preliminary stage is essential for defining the project’s technical scope before multi-billion-dollar construction tenders are issued. The move marks the most significant step in years towards realising the field’s potential, which has been hampered by delays since its first 75,000 bpd phase began operations in 2020.

The renewed momentum at South Ratqa is indicative of a wider push across the sector. Achieving Kuwait’s production targets will require enormous capital expenditure, estimated by the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) to be around $300bn.

In a clear sign of impending activity, KOC is reportedly planning to increase the country’s active drilling rig count by 23 per cent. This expansion is creating significant opportunities for established local firms, such as Heavy Engineering Industries and Shipbuilding Co. (HEISCO), which recently secured a pivotal contract to maintain production facilities in North Kuwait, aligning with KPC’s goal to deepen the private sector’s role in the nation’s core industry.