State-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) on 16 May appointed a new chief, Nizar Al-Adasani, and suspended unidentified “leading officials” at its subsidiary Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC) following a $2.19bn compensation payment to Dow Chemical Company, which triggered intense political pressure on a wobbly government. Mr al-Adasani was head of KPC’s overseas upstream investment arm, KUFPEC (see p15). He replaces Farouk al-Zanki.

The government has also been ordered to send information about the deal to the public prosecutor, according to a 16 May statement posted on the cabinet website. The cabinet met in an extraordinary meeting to discuss the “massive losses resulting from this decision,” statement said. (CONTINUED - 291 WORDS)