OPEC producer Kuwait is planning to boost its foreign oil production by nearly 30 percent through massive acquisitions, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The state-owned Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) will resort to borrowing to fund the acquisitions with a total value of between $975 million and $3.49 billion, the Arabic language daily Al-Anba said.

Citing government data, the paper said KUFPEC, which is in charge of Kuwait’s external hydrocarbon exploration and production, is planning to increase its output to nearly 139,300bpd in 2026 from 107,100bpd in 2024 and 98,000 in 2021.

“KUFPEC has decided to rely on foreign borrowing to fund new acquisition deals during the 2020-2026 development plan…starting in 2023, the deals are worth between $975 million and $3.49 billion, depending on the expected scenarios,” it said.

The report did not mention possible markets but noted that KUFPEC has assets in Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, Canada and Australia.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

Subscribe to our Projects' PULSE newsletter that brings you trustworthy news, updates and insights on project activities, developments, and partnerships across sectors in the Middle East and Africa.