The Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has announced that the Emirate will invite international oil firms to bid for development licenses for the northern oilfields in the second half of 2004, reported GIH.
The Kuwait government has already pre-qualified US companies ExxonMobil and Chevron Texaco and the UK’s BP for the tender. According to the CEO of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), the foreign companies will have access to service contracts only and will be paid in cash. Ownership rights would not be offered to international operators.
The Kuwaiti constitution strictly prohibits foreign ownership of the state’s minerals. However, the government has been negotiating ways to involve foreign oil companies in increasing oil production. In 2001, the government shook up KPC, inserting reform minded board members as the government continues to work on negotiations to open northern oil fields to foreign partnerships, although this has faced stiff resistance in the National Assembly. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
