06-03-06
Doubts over the official Kuwaiti oil reserves were made public as Veteran
Kuwaiti lawmaker Ahmad al-Saadun demanded that the government reveal the “truth”
about the emirate's oil reserves. These reserves were reported to be only half
of the official figure.
"No clarifications have been issued by the energy ministry, or the Kuwait
Petroleum Corp to discount doubts about the credibility of official figures,"
Saadun said in a question to Energy Minister Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah. "This
raises justified and legitimate concerns that these reserves could be depleted
in a very short duration on the basis of current production figures," Saadun, a
three-time former speaker, said.
The controversy began after the authoritative industry newsletter Petroleum
Intelligence Weekly (PIW) revealed in January that Kuwait's oil reserves are far
below the officially stated amount of 99 bn barrels.
The PIW report claimed that Kuwait's remaining proven and non-proven oil
reserves total about 48 bn barrels, based on internal Kuwaiti records seen by
the newsletter.
Saadun demanded a detailed account of the size of reserves in all Kuwaiti
fields and reservoirs, including the standards adopted in estimating them and
whether they were adopted by local or international sides.
"We must know the full truth on the proven and non-proven reserves and other
data regarding the oil wealth," Saadun said.
Kuwait, whose officially stated oil reserves constitute about 10 % of global
crude reserves is pumping around 2.5 mm bpd (bpd) and oil income contributes
more than 90 % of public revenues.
Based on the official figure, oil reserves can last for more than a hundred
years if it keeps current supply levels. Kuwait produces just under 1 bn barrels
annually.
Source: www.7days.ae