Kuwait Oil Co. begins heavy crude exports from South Ratqa oil field

Dubai — Kuwait Oil Company, or KOC, has begun export operations for the first shipment of heavy crude from the South Ratqa field, Kuwait's Al-Seyassah newspaper reported July 26 citing company CEO Imad Sultan.

The first shipment was exported on May 22 and comprised 500,000 barrels of heavy oil. The second shipment departed Kuwait in June, with a load of 700,000 barrels, the report said.

KOC is targeting a production of 60,000 b/d of heavy oil from South Ratqa in its first stage of development. This production is added to the heavy oil that is being produced from the Umm Naqa field in northern Kuwait, which averages 15,000 b/d of heavy oil.

Kuwait's production of heavy oil will be 75,000 b/d by September, Sultan has said.

The production from South Ratqa will be processed into low sulfur crude to supply power plants after the start-up of Al Zour refinery, which is currently under-construction. The 615,000 b/d refinery is targeted for completion by the end of 2020.

The heavy oil will be exported to the global market as a new brand for Kuwait until the completion of the Al-Zour refinery project, the report said.

The heavy oil project in the South Ratqa field is considered one of the most difficult and complex technical projects in the history of the Kuwait Oil Company, Sultan told the newspaper.

Kuwait Oil Company started the construction of the central production facility in South Ratqa field in 2015. Some 1,518 vertical wells have been drilled, 930 of which are in the final stages of completion, the company said. The project also includes building a storage facility with a capacity of 300,000 barrels of heavy oil.