Kuwait to hike oil output in northern fields: report

Kuwait will hike oil output in the country's northern fields to 850,000 barrels per day by the end of December, local daily Kuwait Times reported Monday, citing sources from the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC).

The report said the state-owned KOC, in charge of the Gulf emirate's oil exploration, was in negotiations with several foreign firms to further develop the northern fields.

The report did not specify which companies were involved in the process.

Kuwait is the fourth-largest exporter of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and boasts around 10 percent of the world's proven oil reserves.

Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah said in April the country's crude output capacity stood at three million barrels per day.

The emirate currently pumps out around 2.3 million barrels per day under OPEC's quota and has the ambition to lift its oil output to four million barrels per day by 2020.
(Source:xinhua)