(MENAFN - Arab Times) Farouk Al-Zanki CEO at KPC affirmed the company's interest in occupying an advanced position among its counterparts through the achievement of development strategies adopted in corporate strategy 2030 in several areas including production, exploration, refining, petrochemical sectors, and other activities that enhance the company role globally.
In a press release on the occasion of KPC sponsorship of "Gulf Petroleum Conference and Exhibition" April 9th, Al-Zanki said that the company aims to elevate the human element because it is the basis for achieving any accomplishment and to link its activities in an integral way contributing to realizing the best production, asserting the importance of soliciting available international experiences that have technical capabilities to enhance the position that the company strive for.
Al-Zanki added that the corporate strategy 2030 included several pillars and call for speed in completing the Environmental Fuel and New Refinery Projects as these projects contribute in a major way to providing Kuwaiti oil products that comply with clean environment requirements and supply local market needs and generate electricity. Al-Zanki expressed his believe that these projects are proceeding according to a comprehensible plan, hoping to secure necessary approvals to commence these vital projects.
And about the most important future projects of KPC in the fields of exploration, production, refining and petrochemical on the local level, he said projects are moving in line with the drawn strategy; while on the foreign aspect he explained that in regard the exploration and production sector out of Kuwait, our subsidiary KUFPEC is involved in many projects in Australia, Pakistan, and other countries.
Refining
And as far as the refining sector outside Kuwait, and petrochemical, our efforts continue to build new refinery projects in China and Vietnam that include petrochemical projects.
Al-Zanki stressed the need to support the local petrochemical industry for its added value for the economy through support of balancedtrade of non-oil exports with foreign countries, and also for the supportive returns it accomplishes for shareholders, in addition to supporting this industry and employ Kuwaiti human staff.
Moreover, in this context, he added that EQUATEis considered the first Kuwaiti investment after libration where gas is transformed into manufactured chemical materials based on local expansion in petrochemicals mainly on the size of available feed of natural gas, which is considered the backbone for successful petrochemical projects.
Ambitious
Al-Zanki added that KPC has an ambitious program to explore for gas in order to increase the availability of gas as a raw material for petrochemical manufacturing; adding that coinciding with thatKNPC formulated a grand plan to expand the refining sector, and these developments will positively affect petrochemical sector in Kuwait, especially with the aim for integration between refineries and its petrochemical factories.
According to Al-Zanki, in the local exploration sectorKPC was successful in exploring new reservoirs that were added to the oil reserves; and it also succeeded in reaching the maximum limits of production capacity at three million barrels a day proving the effectiveness of collection centers and its ability to continue working to comprehend this quantity, while KPC was able to drill 418 new wells in Kuwait's oilfields.
On the other hand, and in line with trends to utilize sources and implementations of renewable energy techniques to meet part of the Kuwait oil sector's need for energy and manage the emission of CO2 gas and other greenhouse gases, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), based on an assignment from KPC, conducted a technical and economic visibility study for applications of solar energy technologies in the Kuwaiti oil sector.
He further emphasizedthat the joint cooperation efforts between KPC and KISR culminated in the successful completion of the first phase of this vital project in March 2010, and the results reached by the research team at KISR, with technical support from both Foren Hover and Cassel Universities, both German, the results indicated the possibility of implementing diversified solar energy technologies in all KPC facilities.
Furthermore, Al-Zanki accentuated that an agreement has been made to start the second phase of the project, which included approval of execution for a number of solar energy implementations in the oil sector as pilot projects to evaluate the actual performance from technical and economic aspects, adding that such experimental implementations allows KPC to train and develop its human resources in solar energy field and insuring high performance in Kuwait's environment.
He went on to say that thesecond phase of the project includes two main implementations, the first aims to use solar cells to generate electricity in a gas station; the second aims to use thermal solar energy through solar heaters to supply oil collection centers with thermal energy it needs for initial crude oil process operations instead of using natural gas as it is the case now.
This experiment will be the first of its kind in the oil sector, as this application is expected to save 20-50 percent of consumed energy currently used to heat crude oil, which will lead to decrease pollutants arising from using gas in heating processes.
KPC's CEO expected the execution of the second phase to commence in the first quarter of 2012, stating it might continue for three years. Al-Zanki affirmed the importance of scientific conferencesas a major method in providing an environment that enhances communication networks between experts in the oil market, and an important field to exchange opinions and information and cooperate to develop work opportunities among participating for the benefit of oil sector; as well as that it presents a good image of Kuwait. He said that KPC sponsorship of Gulf Petroleum Conference and Exhibition (GPCE) 2012 held under the title (Gulf Petroleum Integration .. Prospects and Challenges) with participation of experts and institutions from Kuwait and abroad will contribute to highlighting the latest developments in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industry, and in the benefit of specialists participating in the conference and exchange local and global views, experiences and expertise.
In addition, Al-Zanki stated that this sponsorship expresses the oil sector interest in the latest development plan that was approved by concerned authorities in Kuwait in order to make a quantum leap in the country in terms of major projects in all fields, particularly in major projects in the oil sector.
