(MENAFN- Arab Times) KUWAIT CITY Dec 22 (KUNA): Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) celebrates on Tuesday the 80th anniversary of being granted oil drilling concession right in the country under the agreement signed by the late Amir Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on Dec 23 1934. The agreement was the most prominent event in the history of the Kuwait Oil Company which was then called (Kuwait Oil Company Limited). Some believe that the date of signing of the agreement is the same date of the company's establishment however the company was established in February 1934.
It was expected then that the agreement would have contributed to increase the wealth of Kuwait and its international importance through oil exploration concession but the outbreak of World War II was one of the reasons for the delay in oil exploration and with the end of the war Kuwait had turned from resource-poor desert country into a modern rich state. Kuwait Oil Company was established in February 1934 in London with an initial capital of 50000 pounds with joint ownership and equal shares among all of the Anglo-Persian oil company now known as British Petroleum (BP) and Gulf oil company currently known as (Chevron). Shares In Dec 1 1975 an agreement was signed between the Kuwaiti Government British Petroleum Ltd. (BP Kuwait) and Gulf oil company stipulating that as of March 5 1975 all remaining shares of the two companies including concession rights be transferred to the government of Kuwait. The signing ceremony which was seen as an official reference to shifting KOC to become entirely owned by the government took place on Dec 6 1975 in Kuwait and then over the past long years there were many events that constituted milestones in the history of the KOC. Among the most prominent of these events was the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in the Burgan well in February 1938 however Kuwait had not benefited from this wealth until on June 30 1946 when the first shipment of oil was exported. The year 1946 also saw the establishment of the southern pier at Mina Al-Ahmadi while work began to build the city of Al-Ahmadi in an integrated manner to include the main offices workshops residential neighborhoods and facilities to become an integrated city in 1949. In the era of the late Amir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah increasing in oil production was seen and in 1955 production began in Raudhatain in north Kuwait while in 1959 discovery of oil in Managish was discovered in September while north pier went into force in September of the same year. In the era of the late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah in 1969 the artificial island was launched in addition to its facilities. In 1970 four new collection centers started operation raising to 25 the total nummber of gathering centers. Project After that late Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Salem in November 1976 laid the foundation stone for the gas project in Mina Al-Ahmadi as well as the docking of the largest oil tanker in February 1977 in the artificial island port of Al-Ahmadi. And one of the important dates to remember in the history of Kuwait Oil Company was the launching of gas project at Ahmadi port in February 1979 during the reign of the late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. In March 1991 the operation to put out fires at the oil installations and wells got underway. On July 27 Kuwait exported the first cargo of crude since liberation. On September 14 1991 drilling resumed in Al-Maqwa field and late Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah extinguished the last burning well on November 6 1991. Later on Kuwait restored its status as one of the key oil exporting countries. Its experience in the carbohydrates had a record with the discovery of natural gas of commercial quantities in Um Naqa in the north in 2006. During era of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah a large number of achievements have been made in the oil sector. The KOC inaugurated the two water injection installations in Al-Maqwa and Burgan in 2007 and 2008. Moreover the disassociated gas and condensates unit was opened in the north. Among the KOC major achievements was the project for renovating the installations covering 16 gathering units and three gas boosting stations. The company tested maximum production on October 14-18 2010 reaching up 3. 052 million barrels of oil per day the highest level in the KOC history. In the last fiscal year (2013-2014) that ended on March 31 the KOC dug 318 new wells as compared to the projected number 259. Productivity of the crude oil amounted to 2.9 million bpd in the 2013-2014 fiscal year. Moreover the company is tendering establishment of three gathering centers in the north at a projected cost of KD 818 million in addition to several other affiliate ventures. It has already finalized designing one of its mega projects worth KD 1.37 million including operation maintenance of heavy crude installations drilling and testing the first horizontal well in Al-Manaqeesh field thus developing the well and upgrading its output to 13000 barrels per day. Daily output of associated and disassociated gas during the current fiscal year has reached 1.5 billion cubic feet per day as compared to the projected target of 1.4 billion. The KOC accomplishments in the latest fiscal year were multiple covering not only construction works but also staff training and environmental protection activity.
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