NewVision upstream

News Digest (www.worldoil.com)

Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is leading the region's energy transformation by delivering strategic production, pioneering sustainability, and driving innovation to secure Kuwait's energy future. The company has achieved a series of landmark milestones across multiple domains, reinforcing its role as a cornerstone of national progress and global energy security.

Operational Excellence and Production Achievements

Through disciplined execution and technical innovation, KOC sustained a total production system capacity above 2.675 million barrels of oil per day. A key achievement was the successful completion of a polymer injection project in the Umm Niqa field's Lower Fars reservoir, one of the few small-scale implementations of this technology for heavy oil worldwide. This project resulted in increased oil production, uplifted hydrocarbon reserves, improved production sustainability, and reduced water cut. Furthermore, KOC executed a robust drilling program, drilling over 540 new wells and performing more than 2,000 workover operations. This effort significantly reduced the workover backlog to approximately 5% of total producing wells, positioning KOC at the lower benchmark of international best practices and underscoring its focus on maximizing asset uptime and production efficiency.

Gas Production and Energy Security

KOC strengthened its position as a key natural gas provider, with free gas production exceeding 635 million standard cubic feet per day and total gas output surpassing 2 billion standard cubic feet per day. This performance was enabled by enhanced Jurassic drilling, workover operations, and improved efficiency across upstream gas facilities. Concurrently, the company achieved a significant reduction in gas flaring, bringing the rate down to 0.51%, reflecting a sustained commitment to emissions management and environmental responsibility. These accomplishments have reinforced the reliability of domestic gas supply, helping to meet Kuwait's growing power generation demands and supporting the nation's energy diversification and sustainability objectives.

Exploration and Resource Replacement

KOC made significant exploration strides, reinforcing its long-term resource base. A historic milestone was Kuwait's first offshore light oil discovery from the Lower Cretaceous Minagish reservoir via the Noukhatha-1 well, which recorded a production rate of approximately 2,800 barrels per day of light oil and 7 million standard cubic feet per day of associated gas. To maximize this discovery's potential, KOC has strategically partnered with leading international players, including Halliburton, to advance offshore exploration in a phased manner. A second offshore discovery was made in the Jlai’a field, and a second phase of exploration is in planning with nine additional offshore locations identified. Onshore, KOC achieved promising exploration milestones in the Marrat, Najmah-Sargelu, Minagish, and Zubair formations, collectively reflecting a strategic commitment to resource replacement and securing Kuwait's production sustainability.

Digital Transformation and Smart Operations

Digital transformation is a cornerstone of KOC's operational strategy. The company has accelerated the deployment of smart field technologies, integrating advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning into its operations. These tools are applied in critical areas such as predictive maintenance, reservoir characterization, and drilling optimization, enabling proactive risk management, reduced non-productive time, and enhanced well performance. Real-time surveillance platforms have been expanded across Jurassic production assets, improving reservoir forecasting. KOC has also established a centralized emergency command center and rolled out intelligent field solutions to strengthen asset integrity, incident response, and integrated decision-making, positioning the company at the forefront of technological advancement in the regional upstream sector.

Organizational Excellence and Efficiency

KOC implemented a comprehensive organizational transformation aligned with its 2040 Strategy to enable faster decision-making and sharper strategic focus. The new structure enhances integration across critical upstream functions by aligning production planning, drilling, and operational execution under unified leadership streams. This has improved coordination, minimized inefficiencies, and enabled



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14 November 2025

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