Kuwait began importing natural gas by vessel at the beginning of April and will continue to for seven months, the CEO of national conglomerate Kuwait Petroleum Corp said on Thursday. "We are getting LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas). It already started from the beginning of April and will continue until the end of October," Saad al-Shuwayeb told reporters after attending the opening of a new gathering centre. Shuwayeb said all the imported gas will be used for power plants. He gave no details about the cost. He said Kuwait, which is rich in oil but poor in natural gas, will be importing an average of 500 million cubic feet (14.2 million cubic meters) per day.
Power consumption in this desert Gulf state peaks in summer months when temperatures hit about 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fehrenheit). Shuwayeb said KPC signed contracts with three international firms to supply the gas, one of which he said is Royal Dutch Shell. In February, state-owned Kuwait Oil Co signed a five-year technical service contract with Shell to develop difficult gas reserves discovered in 2006. In March 2006, Kuwait announced the discovery of one trillion cubic metres (35 trillion cubic feet) of non-associated natural gas and immediately began work on the field.
The emirate currently produces around four million cubic metres (140 million cubic feet) a year of free gas, but it is behind on its target and has been facing technical problems. Kuwait plans to raise annual output from free gas to 28.4 million cubic metres (one billion cubic feet) by 2015. Kuwait is also producing around one billion cubic feet per day of associated natural gas -- alongside its oil output -- which is used wholly to operate power and water desalination plants. The emirate's plans to import gas by pipeline from neighbouring nations have failed.
