KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has announced that its heavy oil production has reached 90,000 barrels per day, which is a new major achievement for the North and West Kuwait Directorate. Deputy CEO of North and West Kuwait Issa Al-Maraghi said this level of production is unprecedented in the company’s history. He described it as a remarkable accomplishment, especially considering the huge challenges faced in developing and operating difficult heavy oil fields, as well as the shortage of steam injection resources, drilling rigs, and maintenance.

Al-Maraghi affirmed that efforts will continue to further enhance heavy oil production, revealing that the company anticipates reaching a production level of 100,000 barrels per day by the second quarter of 2025. He credited the hard work of the responsible teams and groups at KOC for accelerating the completion of major projects in the Ratqa field in northern Kuwait.

Furthermore, Al-Maraghi highlighted that the company’s recent organizational transformation has provided its departments with greater flexibility, enabling them to adapt, excel, and achieve these results in record time. He praised the joint cooperation between KOC and Shell International on the heavy oil project, highlighting their advanced technical services agreement through which best practices were adopted and innovative initiatives were implemented.

Al-Maraghi revealed that these initiatives included the development of an automated tool to optimize steam utilization, ensuring its efficient allocation, the use of quadruple reverse osmosis water, conducting comprehensive evaluations of design performance, improving extraction efficiency, enhancing an integrated energy balance model, and continuously monitoring and improving well performance.

He expressed the pride of the company’s senior management in every factor that contributed to this achievement, especially as it coincides with KOC’s 90th anniversary, making this milestone a double accomplishment for the company. In a related development, oil sources explained that KOC will continue its efforts to reach approximately 120,000 barrels per day of heavy oil production in the next two years.

The company’s management and employees are committed to increasing heavy oil production in line with the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC)’s strategy, which aims to achieve no less than 430,000 barrels per day of heavy oil by 2040. However, increasing heavy oil production presents some challenges, especially since drilling and developing heavy oil fields is a complex process. These efforts are driven by continuous teamwork and the acquisition of the latest high-tech tools that greatly support KOC’s operations.

© Copyright 2024, All Rights Reserved Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).