OPEC Ally Fans Out to Australia, Canada in Global Gas Drive

Kuwait plans to boost generation from Canadian shale fields by two thirds and enhance the output of natural gas in Australia as the OPEC allies ramp up efforts to search out and develop overseas fields of the gasoline.

The international upstream arm of state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp. sees the output of about 20,000 boed at its Canadian shale gas venture by the end of 2019, up from 12,000 at present, Sheikh Nawaf Saud Al-Sabah, performing chief executive officer, mentioned in an interview in Kuwait City.

In Australia, the corporate known as Kufpec received exploration rights to a few new blocks in February and April. It’s producing almost 40,000 boed in that nation and intends to lift output and produce more liquefied natural gas for export, Al-Sabah said, without specifying targets.

Kuwait has already planned to expand its global capacity to supply gas in addition to oil. The Persian Gulf nation at present can pump as much as three MMbpd of crude from its completely owned fields, and KPC targets a daily capacity of 4 million by 2020. As a partner of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, nevertheless, Kuwait has vowed to cap its oil output as the group demands steadiness in the market and prop up crude.

Like many power producers, Kuwait sees gas as essential to long-term progress. Fuel use is seen rising faster than demand for oil and coal as policies shift towards lower carbon release. The quantity of new fuel-production capability investments this year could set a record, in accordance with consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd.

In Alberta, Canada, Kufpec plans with its joint-venture companion Chevron Corp. to start creating the Waskahigan and East Kaybob areas, drilling the first of over 370 wells over ten years. The regions are a part of the Kaybob Duvernay venture generating shale gas and natural gas liquids.