Kufpec secures $1.1bn in funding to expand oil and gas operations

Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec) has reportedly secured $1.1bn in financing from a consortium of banks to expand its oil and gas operations.

The group of banks that offered the loan include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking (SMBC), First Abu Dhabi Bank, Societe Generale, Mizuho and Scotiabank.

Kufpec is planning to bolster its production to 150,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) by 2020 from the existing 119,000boed, Reuters reported citing a statement made by Kufpec CEO Sheikh Nawaf al-Sabah.

The company is also exploring potential future oil and gas acquisitions in other countries.

According to Bloomberg, the latest financing is in addition to the company’s $3.5bn in loans from multiple banks since 2013.

The company’s decision to increase production comes at a time when the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member nations are raising output to allay concerns of lower Iranian oil exports in the wake of US sanctions.

As well as domestic operations, the company produces from fields located in other countries.

Kufpec is producing 38,000boed and 30,000boed in Australia and Norway, respectively.

Bloomberg also reported that the company drilled 120 wells for gas and condensates production at shale fields in Alberta, Canada.

The company will drill a total of 2,000 wells in the country in order to increase production, which currently stands at 8,000boed, Al Sabah told the news agency.

The additional wells in Canada are expected to add 28 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) to the company’s total reserves of 494mmboe.

Kufpec also plans to invest in US shale deposits to enhance its global production.