Kuwait oil reserves have increased to 97.3 billion barrels as the country managed to add 818 million barrels to its previous deposits of 96.5 billion barrels, a senior oil official said.

Kuwait oil reserves is considered the fourth largest among members of Opec after Saudi Arabia, Iran and the UAE.
Ali Al Shammari, assistant managing director of Kuwait Oil Company, said the additional reserves meant to offset record production that averaged 2.4 million barrels per day in the past fiscal year 2004-05, which ended March 31.
Al Shammari said KOC drilled 73 new wells and upgraded 122 during the past year to boost their output capacity.
He said the cost of oil production in Kuwait continued to be at $1 per barrel, one of the lowest in the world, compared with nearest figure of $2 per barrel in some other countries.
KOC also produced 1.1 billion cubic metres of associated gas during the past year, he said.
Al Shammari said KOC is expected to sign new contracts to upgrade and modernise some of the oil installations.
KOC has already signed a $700-million contract with a foreign company for the first phase of the upgrading programme, he said.
Another $1-billion contract to build new oil export terminals will be finalised by the end of this year, while a tender winner of a contract to build an oil storage facility with eight tanks is expected to be declared shortly, Al Shammari said.
Kuwait has an official Opec production quota of around 2.207 million barrels a day.
Oil sector sources, meanwhile, said Kuwait Petroleum Corporation might set up new companies in association with the private sector instead of offering part of the shares of the existing companies.
They said the KPC board of directors was also discussing the privatisation of Kuwait Oil Tankers Company, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company and Petrochemical Industries Company.
Major issues under discussion included capital percentage to be offered to the private sector and employee settlement after these companies are privatised, the sources said.