Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah, Minister of Energy and Chairman of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation's (KPC) board of directors, broadly surveys the strategic directions of the oil sector in an interview.

He optimistically enthused that the corporation is going through one of its best phases, which promises overall prosperity and development.
He believes that the corporation forms the backbone of Kuwait's economy, thus it has an immense responsibility to enhance its performance in all realms so as to become an effective contributor to Kuwait's prosperity.

Q. In your opinion, what role does the corporation play in enhancing the national economy?
The corporation plays a crucial role in supporting and stimulating the national economy. One of the most important ways it does this is to endeavour to provide good investment opportunities for the private sector in the oil industry by the following means:
1 Privatising some of the corporation's activities: Recently, the corporation conducted several studies on the privatisation of its activities and 'the possibility of involving the private sector with the Corporation's subsidiary companies in whole or in part'. Currently, we are waiting for the required approvals of the outcomes and recommendations of these studies, so that we may proceed with their implementation. Meanwhile, the corporation is taking the required executive steps to privatise the oil blending and local marketing activities. The oil blending activity has peen sold to a private sector company while the first Local Fuel Marketing Company has been established and has offered 76 per cent of its shares for public subscription. In addition, steps have been taken to transfer the whole of the calciner coke project to the private sector. The project tender has been awarded to the Al Mal Group for production of calciner coke.
2 Promoting the participation of the private sector in the corporation's operations: The private sector now participates in the Kuwaiti Petrochemicals Compound, and many steps have been taken to give the private sector a certain share in future petrochemical projects (such as Olefins and Aromatics), and in construction of the proposed new refinery.
3 Relying on the private sector in the contracting and engineering works and in the support services.
4 Encouraging the private sector to exploit the output of the corporation's activities for the creation of a subsequent transformational industry.

Q. How do you forecast the corporation's future in light of the increasing world demand for oil?
The increasing world demand for crude oil creates several challenges for the corporation; the major one facing us today being to increase production to meet this demand. This will be achieved by developing exploration, development and production work in Kuwait so as to increase reserves and raise extraction rates, by finalising capital projects such as the crude exportation facilities construction project and by increasing exploration, development and production of non-accompanying gas, so that this gas can be substituted for oil in energy production.

Q. What future plans and projects would you like to carry out?
The corporation and its subsidiaries have defined the strategic goals, which the Kuwaiti oil sector aims to realise in the future. The capital costs for the realisation of such goals have been estimated at KD16.2 billion over the coming 20 years.
Reaching a production level of three million barrels of crude oil per day by the year 2005, and four million barrels per day (bpd) by 2020 is one of the major objectives. To achieve this, several projects will be implemented, some of which have already been identified and will be implemented during the coming five years as follows:
1 Construction of new crude exportation facilities in the Northern and Southern tank farms and at Mina Al Ahmadi and tanker fuelling facilities.
2 Increasing the production capacity of Gathering Centre No 28, and installing a gas, pressure unit and treatment unit for medium humidity crude oil in the West of Kuwait.
3 Installing waste water disposal facilities Phase 2, in South-East Kuwait.
4 Building a new Gathering Centre, No 24 in the Sabriya field, in the north of Kuwait.
5 Increasing the productivity of Booster Station No 131 - Phase 2, in the north of Kuwait.
6 Drilling a large number of wells in all the Kuwait oilfields.
Our strategic goals also include raising Kuwait's refining capacity to around 1.0-1.3 million bpd by the year 2010. To attain this level, the following projects will have to be carried out during the coming few years:
a Developing the current refineries in order to boost the standard of transformation processes.
b Building a new refinery with a refining capacity of 432,000 bpd to meet the future local energy needs. Construction to be completed by the year 2009.
c Building a fourth gas liquefaction plant, scheduled to start operating in 2009-2010.
In order to expand petrochemicals activity inside and outside Kuwait, the following projects will be carried out:
• The Aromatics Project
• The second Olefins Project
• The Styrene Project
• The Poly-Styrene Project in Asia.
These projects are expected to come into service during the fiscal year 2007-2008.

Q. What are your wishes for the long-term future of the Kuwaiti oil industry?
As you all know, the oil sector is one of the country's vital sectors and the mainstay of the national economy. Indeed, the future of the country largely depends on the future of the oil industry.
Therefore, we look forward to seeing the Kuwaiti oil industry achieve more success and prosperity, and attain the position of prominence that it aspires to in the Gulf region and in the world. This will not be achieved, however, unless the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation is able to pursue all its strategic orientations and reach the goals that have been established for the coming period. These major goals include:
1 To reach the targeted crude production rate of four million bpd by the year 2020.
2 To increase the country's refining capacity to around 1.3 million bpd with a high transformation process level by the year 2010.
3 To expand the petrochemical industrial activity inside and outside Kuwait.
4 To reach a minimum production level of 100,000 equivalent barrels of oil per day for our exploration and production activities outside Kuwait by the year 2010.
5 To expand the refining and marketing activities outside Kuwait and raise the standard of these activities to the highest of the global oil industry.
We should not forget that the Kuwaiti oil industry provides the most suitable fuel with the required specifications, on economic and environment-friendly terms, for all consumers in Kuwait, particularly the Ministry of Electricity and Water. To continue to procure such fuel locally will only be possible through the creation of additional refining capacity. The alternative is to import gas from neighbouring countries.
I also hope that the Kuwaiti oil industry will attain high standards of performance in all its activities comparable with those of the major world oil companies. I hope that KPC and its subsidiary companies will be able to implement the best and most suitable world standards in health, safety and environment (HSE) so that the corporation will occupy a leading position in the region in terms of performance. It is my hope, too, that the best and most suitable modern technology will be used in all the corporation's activities.
My view of KPC in the future is that it will continue to make a huge contribution to the development of the local economy by providing good investment opportunities for the private sector.
It is worth mentioning that the corporation, even as it expends its best efforts to achieve its goals, will face many challenges, although I am sure it will overcome them all. The major challenges are:
• Exploration and production activities in Kuwait: To obtain the approval of the National Assembly for Project Kuwait by which world oil companies will be called to assist Kuwait in its exploration, development and production activities in order to increase reserves and raise extraction rates, to expand exploration, development and production of non-accompanying gas, and to deal with the quantities of water which come with the crude oil, and the quantities of heavy oil produced in the future.
• Refining activity in Kuwait:
The rapid change in the standard specifications of oil products will require further capital investments until these specifications are met.
• The petrochemical activity:
The lack of available natural gas in Kuwait that can be used as a source of energy in the petrochemical industry is an impediment to the expansion of this activity inside Kuwait.
Last but not least, I would like to mention that all these wishes and aspirations cannot be achieved without the valuable efforts of our country's qualified and experienced citizens.
Therefore, showing more interest in Kuwaiti human resources, protecting them and regarding them as the mainstay of the corporation and its subsidiary companies, as well as exerting efforts to develop their capabilities and skills are all among our top priorities. Generally speaking, there is the capacity to provide job opportunities for the national workforce, and to develop its capacities and technical skills.

Q. Is there any message you would like to address to the employees of the oil sector on this occasion?
I would like to tell our brothers and sisters who work in the oil sector that their work is a blessing, a catalyst of motion and energy, a source of production, profits and success and a way towards progress and prosperity. No nation could rise again without the efforts, perseverance, struggle, energy, faithfulness and devotion of its citizens. Indeed, the noble soul cannot tolerate laziness, so let us all join our efforts and work, each in his or her field of work so that when harvest time comes we will reap the fruits of our work, and God Almighty shall always reward the assiduous workers.
I would like to add that human resources are the basis of work in any field; indeed, without the human being, no machine can operate, no life can function. The human being is the real engine in life. This explains the great interest we have in human resources, particularly those of the oil sector whose yields are the basis of the developmental plans in the present and future life of the country.
The workers in this sector have always been the source of our interest and one of our top priorities, particularly in the time when I was the acting Minister of Oil before taking charge of the Ministry of Energy.
For these reasons, we have devoted our efforts and time to resolving the chronic problems from which they were suffering all those years. In spite of the difficulty and costs of these problems, we managed, with the guidance and help of Allah, to overcome those difficulties within a relatively short time and succeeded in filling the hearts of all our personnel with joy and satisfaction, and I hope that this will be revealed in the rates of production and the performance level, and in increased interest in performing their duties which are a precious trust, as I stated earlier. So let every one of us render the trust he is in charge of with total loyalty and devotion.