Our Operations

The Exploration Group undertakes all exploration operations, whether land or marine, within the borders of the State of Kuwait, using the latest technological means to determine and evaluate the presence of oil in the areas being explored.

Given its pioneering role in its field, the Group plays a vital role in seismic surveying, where it is currently conducting an unprecedented three-dimensional seismic survey.

In addition, the exploration for gas and light oil in Jurassic and Permian rocks leads KOC to unconventional reservoirs, which means that the recent discoveries in the field of light oil and gas extraction mark the start of a new phase of the Exploration Group’s success.

Kuwait Oil Company’s higher management has defined a set of goals that expresses the scope of the ambitions the Company aspires to. The Group plays a vital role in achieving these strategic goals as one of the most important Groups in the Company. Among the main objectives set by the Company is to provide a safe and healthy operating environment for the employees of the Exploration Group, contractors, and all parties involved.

After completing the full exploration process and selecting the appropriate site, the Drilling Group begins its work. To accomplish the task, the appropriate drilling rig is used and equipped with the latest technologies and specialized devices to drill the well in a manner that ensures the highest levels of efficiency and safety, so that it becomes possible to extract commercially-viable quantities of oil and gas from reservoirs.

The drilling rig prepares the well that is being drilled for production operations in order to extract quantities of oil and gas for production and refining operations.

As one of the largest oil production companies in the world, Kuwait Oil Company is proud to be responsible for the production of oil and gas from all fields across the country. The Burgan Field is considered the jewel in the crown of the production operations that the Company is involved in. It is the second largest oil field in the world.

In addition, the North Kuwait Fields contain large amounts of heavy oil reserves, the extraction of which requires the implementation of a set of complex operations.

The only constant that cannot witness any change is the organized approach based on a long-term vision aimed at adopting modern technology and global operational performance.

The main function of KOC’s export operations is based on receiving crude oil from all Gathering Centers from the Company’s areas of operations before sending it to the main manifold, where it is prepared to the level of quality required before it can be marketed under the name of Kuwait Export Crude (KEC).

Oil is then stored temporarily in storage facilities before it is delivered to oil tankers with the purpose of exportation through five loading stations. A share of this oil is supplied to the Kuwait National Petroleum Corporation refineries, the Ministry of Electricity, and local power plants to fulfill Kuwait’s domestic energy requirements.

Historically, Kuwait has flourished because of its role as a seafaring nation. The livelihoods of our forefathers depended on the Gulf’s waters for food, the pearl trade, and transport. Today, Kuwait’s existence relies on its waters more than ever. That is why at KOC, our goal is to operate and maintain some of the world’s safest oil terminals so that we can protect our precious environment while delivering on our promise of providing energy to customers around the world. In order to do this, we incorporate some of the most extensive safety measures that minimize the risk of oil spills at storage centers and marine terminals. Our teams of highly trained engineers, harbor pilots, and marine fire fighters work around the clock so that we may honor our commitments to customers while ensuring our waters are protected.

In this regard, the Marine Operations Group has the responsibility to supply the necessary crude oil, the final product, to oil ports in various parts of the State of Kuwait in order to keep pace with the strategies that are consistent with the country’s export objectives. In addition, the Marine Operations Group is responsible for developing ship harbors, upgrading the fleet, and constantly working to raise the efficiency of the Company’s Marine Operations employees in accordance with the best internationally recognized standards in the industry.

Kuwait Oil Company has made great strides in terms of gas operations. In the past, only a fraction of the associated gas that was produced was used while the remaining quantities were flared. The Company has recently taken important steps towards establishing new projects aimed at maximizing the potential of gas.

At present, the Company makes use of 99% of the total quantities of gas that are produced, so that these quantities are used in a group of refining industries that will create added value for the benefit of the country.

Within the framework of the steps KOC has taken to make better use of its gas resources, it has adopted an approach that is based on addressing environmental concerns as well as taking into account social and economic aspects.

As a result of its objectives which focus on environmental aspects, the Company has made great efforts in search of environmentally friendly fuel to be used in the State of Kuwait. Currently, free gas fields are being developed in the North Kuwait region.

The gas operations carried out by KOC extend over a vast geographical area, with pipelines totaling more than 5,000 kilometers in length to meet the country’s energy needs.

Kuwait Oil Company’s strategy includes increasing the volume of production of associated gas and non-associated gas alike, to reach a total of about 4 billion cubic feet per day.

Since the beginning of the modern era coinciding with the discovery of oil and gas, technology has played a prominent role in supporting hydrocarbon exploration and production processes.

In the same context, science and technology-based innovation processes have been one of the main forces affecting the course of the industry, and research and development work has been a key factor in increasing recoverable reserves.

Among the main benefits of research and development work is the continuous access to modern and innovative hydrocarbon technologies to deal with unconventional reservoirs and fields that are difficult to access. These technologies also help preserve natural resources by increasing the percentage of the quantities of oil and gas that can be recovered from the reservoirs that have already been used, and this is considered to be one of the economic drivers because it translates into an increase in revenues.

Kuwait Oil Company invests in research and development work for economic reasons and to achieve sustainability, through reserves compensation operations by utilizing a set of environmentally friendly processes. In addition to this, it is important to note that research that follows comprehensive tests and training programs implemented on a large scale must be fully developed and totally completed before announcing a new technology.

In addition to the above, KOC is making tremendous efforts to provide the necessary training for new scientists through university scholarships, with the aim of enhancing the capabilities of Kuwaiti nationals and conducting research at the local level. The great importance of this type of investment is evident in creating a new generation of scientists, engineers, and geologists in the petroleum industry at KOC.