‘Large’ oil & gas discovery springs up offshore Kuwait

Kuwait’s state-owned E&P company Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) has revealed a big oil and gas discovery at an offshore field east of Failaka Island, off the coast of Kuwait, fueling hopes of finding more hydrocarbons to boost the country’s resources.

While disclosing the commercial quantities of a “large” light oil and associated gas discovery in the offshore Al-Nokhatha field, KPC and its subsidiary, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), explained that the preliminary estimates of the hydrocarbon reserves were around 2.1 billion barrels of light oil, and 5.1 trillion standard cubic feet of gas, which brings into play about 3.2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe).

Kuwait sees this discovery as a breakthrough in its exploration of hydrocarbon resources within its marine area, given the size of the field, with the initial estimated area being approximately 96 square kilometers. According to the Middle Eastern company, the Al-Nokhatha field’s daily production has been calculated at about 2,800 barrels of light oil and 7 million cubic meters of associated gas.

KOC believes the initial hydrocarbon reserves represent a sign of immense potential to augment and bolster oil and gas resource quantities in multiple layers and reservoirs within the field. While confirming its intention to come up with a developmental plan as soon as possible to bring the field on stream, the firm emphasized the importance of further offshore exploration in enhancing Kuwait’s hydrocarbon reserves and meeting global demand.

These hydrocarbon exploration efforts are part of the country’s plans to cement its position as a reliable global oil and gas producer and enable it to curb energy costs while working to reach net zero emissions by 2060.

Khaled Al Mulla, KOC’s Deputy CEO of Exploration & Drilling, recently pointed out that the oil sector’s energy transition plan for 2050 was underway, where “a specified action plan has been developed that includes five energy transition initiatives” to meet the target of net zero emissions by that year.

KOC inked an offshore drilling services contract in July 2019 with the U.S. oilfield services giant, Halliburton. Under the terms of the deal, the U.S. giant was expected to provide and manage drilling, fluids, wireline and perforating, well testing, coring, cementing, coiled tubing, and all offshore logistical services.

In addition, Halliburton said it would provide two offshore rigs and supply vessels for the project, which would operate in the Arabian Gulf within Kuwait’s territorial waters. At that time, the expected start date for the first rig was in July 2020 while the second rig was due in January 2021. However, the timeline changed since the drilling campaign ran into delays.

As a result, Kuwait was on the verge of starting its first offshore drilling activities in 2022, three years after signing the deal with Halliburton, as explained by the CEO of the KPC, Sheikh Nawaf Saud Al-Sabah, during the Qatar Economic Forum in 2022. At the time, KPC confirmed that one of the rigs was already in Kuwait and preparing to start its upcoming work. This jack-up is said to be COSL’s Oriental Phoenix rig.

COSL’s Oriental Dragon rig was expected to leave You Lina shipyard in China in mid-June 2023 to be transported to Kuwait where it was set to kick off a three-year contract with Kuwait Oil Company. The 2017-built rig is a Friede Goldman JU2000E design jack-up, which was constructed at China Merchant Heavy Industries (CMHI).