Kuwait's KPC head sees low oil prices for longer

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Crude oil prices which have more than halved since last year could remain low for a longer time but that will not deter Gulf OPEC member Kuwait from investing in its energy projects the head of state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said on Tuesday.

"Low oil prices have been a prominent feature of the market since the second half of 2014 and could stay lower for longer; posing (a) challenge to our industry but providing an opportunity to structural reforms" KPC's Chief Executive Nizar al-Adsani told an energy conference in Kuwait.

"We at Kuwait Petroleum Corporation recognize that it is also a great risk if we do not make investments... we anticipate an expenditure of $100 billion over the next five years... of which half of it is already committed to specific identified projects" he said.

KPC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with K-sure and KOEXIM the Korean Credit Agencies for a total of $ 11bn to finance the upstream downstream petrochemical and transportation projects of KPC and its subsidiaries Adsani said.

"KPC also is studying other means of financing such as bonds sukuk project bonds and this will open up the possibility of KPC being rated by the major international credit agencies" he added.