On January 21, 2005, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) commemorated its silver jubilee and the passing of quarter of a century since its inception, says KPC board of directors chairman Sheikh Ahmad Al Fahad Al Sabah.

In a message to mark the silver jubilee of KPC, Sheikh Ahmad said the creation of KPC is regarded as a major milestone in the history of the Kuwaiti oil sector.
"By all measures, it was an eminently successful initiative that unified all the national oil activities under one umbrella.
"In retrospect, before the establishment of KPC, the oil activities in the Kuwaiti oil industry were handled independently by the various oil companies.
"However, when the number of specialisations and operations increased, the idea of creating an umbrella company was conceived to co-ordinate upstream and downstream operations and to reinforce coordination and improve the decision-making process.
"In this context, the idea of creating KPC was sound and correct, since all efforts were synchronised, and the duplication of efforts among the various oil companies was eliminated.
"Roles were given to the individual oil sector companies according to their respective specialisations, while KPC took charge of the world marketing of oil, the organisation of the administrative structure and co-ordination among companies.
"During the past two decades, the corporation assumed huge responsibilities in terms of increasing oil production, expanding activities in world marketing and succeeding in weaving a vast network of customers and partners, thereby generating additional revenues for Kuwait.
"KPC lived its most critical experience with the brutal Iraqi occupation and the challenges it ensued. At the time, the corporation used its office in London as its makeshift headquarter and managed all external oil activities, directing the fleet of Kuwaiti tankers, and supervising its refineries and fuel stations in Europe.
"This was indeed a huge challenge, which established the Kuwaiti identity and proved KPC's ability to effectively cope with crisis.
"After the liberation of Kuwait, tremendous challenges emerged; production was suspended, the facilities had all been destroyed, and there were mounting international and domestic commitments to provide oil supplies.
"Once the liberation of Kuwait took place, reconstruction work started; creditably, in a record time the oil well fires were all extinguished, and oil exports were resumed until eventually oil production returned to its normal capacity.
"What is more important is that all this enormous success was achieved through the joint efforts of the devoted staff of the oil sector.
"Today, the corporation stands at the threshold of a new era of modernisation and development; the privatisation of several oil facilities is on the right track, and there are huge projects for the renovation of the infrastructure in the oil fields and refineries with a view to boost production.
"As regards the petrochemical sector, it is now witnessing the best period of all, since vital projects are being implemented such as the aromatics and Olefins projects.
"The corporation is now looking forward to passing a law that would allow it to seek the assistance of international oil companies, with a view to develop Kuwaiti oil fields.
"The oil sector will definitely reap the fruits of this step.
"On the 25th anniversary of the KPC, we cannot but laud the foresight of our brethren who have contributed to the creation of this successful entity, and would like to call on all KPC employees to exert more efforts to boost development and modernisation, so that KPC remains one of the major oil companies in the world," he said.