Kuwait’s plans to secure $1bn in Japanese funding for state energy firm Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) are in motion (MEES, 1 April). On 31 March, KPC’s new CEO Sheikh Nawaf Saud Al Sabah (MEES, 18 March) signed an MoU with Japanese Nippon Export Investment Insurance (NEXI) to fund projects for the firm and its subsidiaries. The signing ceremony was attended by Kuwaiti oil minister Mohammed al-Fares and Japanese trade minister Koichi Hagiuda. KPC has a five-year $40bn borrowing plan to reverse capacity losses and bring it all the way up to 3.5mn b/d by 2025. For financial year 2020-21, it sank to around 2.8mn b/d.