CAPITAL: KUWAIT CITY
MONETARY UNIT: KUWAITI DINAR
REFINING CAPACITY: 763,800 B/D
OIL PRODUCTION: 1.77 MILLION B/D
OIL RESERVES: 94 BILLION BBL
GAS RESERVES: 52.2 TCF

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait signed an agreement in 2000 demarcating maritime boundaries, including the division of Al Dorra gas field, which was in an area also disputed with Iran.

In April 2000 Kuwait protested Iran's drilling in an area near Al Dorra field in a triangular area between the three nations. Iran responded by halting drilling.

Discovered in 1967, Al Dorra field was estimated to contain reserves of 5 billion boe of gas and condensate.

The three nations had long sought a tripartite accord covering the area, on the continental shelf in the offshore Partitioned Neutral Zone. Kuwait and Iran said they would hold further talks.

In 2000 Kuwait signed a contract with Royal Dutch/Shell to conduct seismic surveys of its offshore fields.

In another international dispute, Kuwait took the unusual step of inviting neutral observers to witness its drilling operations near its border with Iraq.

The action was in response to Iraqi allegations that Kuwait was drilling in Iraq's territory.

Kuwaiti Oil Minister Saud Nasser al-Sabah said, "The UN is monitoring our operations in the area. The issue is about a well that is part of an oil field shared by the two countries; our well's daily production is 43,000 bbl. All drilling and extraction of oil by the Kuwait Petroleum Corp. is done by conventional methods and is 100% within Kuwait's territories."

Kuwait added that it was not drilling horizontal wells into Iraqi territory.

Processing

Kuwait National Petroleum Co. restored the 31,000 b/d fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit at the Al Ahmadi oil refinery to production after an accident that closed the refinery for nearly 2 months.

The 440,000-b/d refinery was severely damaged in a gas-leak explosion in June 2000 in which six workers were killed and 49 others injured. Kuwaiti officials said repairs cost an estimated $325 million.

Two 18,000 b/d gasoline-producing units were severely damaged by the explosion and fire. A 122,000-b/d crude distillation unit suffered major damage, while another crude unit, with capacity of 120,000 b/d, suffered moderate damage.

The FCC unit produced chemicals needed for producing gasoline and polypropylene.

Mina al Ahmadi, the largest of the country's three refineries, is 40 km south of Kuwait's capital. It was built in 1949 but had been upgraded several times, notably after the Persian Gulf war of 1991.

Also in 2000, the head of Kuwait's higher oil council said some of the 80 state-owned gasoline stations in the country would be sold to the private sector.