Major production capacity losses in Kuwait are threatening the traditional Opec heavyweight’s standing in the producer group, and could even result in the emirate struggling to bring production fully back online in the second half of 2022.

The latest 2020-21 annual report from state upstream firm KOC made for grim reading, with the key takeaway a 177,000 b/d drop in production capacity to 2.63mn b/d for the year to April 2021 (MEES, 22 October). KOC accounts for the vast bulk of Kuwaiti capacity, with the remainder coming from the Partitioned Neutral Zone (PNZ) shared with Saudi Arabia. (CONTINUED - 381 WORDS)