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A general view of one of three Atmospheric Residue Desulphurisation units (ARDS) at the Al Zour Refinery, that is under construction in Al Zour, Kuwait, February 13,2020. Image used for illustrative purpose. Stephanie McGehee .Reuters Images
State-owned Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC), the OPEC member’s downstream investment arm, has reported record annual profits following the completion of refinery expansions.
In a report published by Alanba and other local newspapers on Thursday, KNPC said net earnings nearly tripled to 1.01 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($3.3 billion) in fiscal year 2022-2023, which ended on March 31.
Profits in the previous 2021-2022 year stood at around 341.8 million dinars ($1.1 billion), the Company said.
“The surge in profits during 2022-2023 was due to several reasons, mainly the improvement in the prices of petroleum products in global markets,” KNPC’s CEO Wadha Al-Khateeb said in the report.
“Another key factor is the great improvement in the Company’s performance particularly after the successful operation of the upgraded Mina Abdullah and Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refineries,” she added.
Kuwait, which controls the world’s 5th largest proven oil deposits, has just completed a $multi-billion Clean Fuel Project which involved the expansion of those two refineries and the construction of Al-Zour Refinery, one of the world’s largest refining units.
(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)
