Kuwait's Oil Sector Fails to Deliver Despite Billions in Investment

Kuwait's oil sector has spent billions of dollars over the past decade to reach its strategic objective of raising sustainable crude oil production capacity to four million barrels a day. However, despite this significant investment, the country still falls short of its target by an estimated 800,000 to one million barrels a day.

The $14-16 billion spent on upstream capital expenditure between 2013 and 2023 was essential for maintaining reservoirs and production facilities, but it failed to deliver the desired outcome. The strategic objective was initially expected to be achieved by 2020, but has since been postponed several times and is now incorporated into longer-term plans extending to 2035 and beyond.

The main issue is not how much was spent or how many projects were completed, but rather how efficiently the capital was allocated. A meaningful assessment requires a clear distinction between capital used for maintenance, spending that merely replaced natural field decline, and investment that genuinely created new production capacity.