Kuwait Petroleum signs LNG contracts with BP, Shell and Qatargas

State-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation has signed contracts with three major international companies to import 2.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year, the official Kuwait News agency reported.

The four-year contracts have been signed with British Petroleum, Shell and Qatargas, KPC’s international marketing official Nabil Boresly told KUNA.

In the future, the company is also planning to sign long-term contracts for up to 15 years to receive six to seven tonnes of LNG per year, he added.

KPC is currently undertaking a project to build facilities that can import 3,000 billion British thermal units (BTU) daily of liquefied gas, aiming to meet the growing local demand.

“The country uses imported liquefied gas from March to November only, due to the high rate of electricity usage in hot weather, while it only uses locally produced gas in winter,” Boresly told KUNA.

Last week, Kuwait awarded a $2.93bn contract to a South Korean consortium to build a LNG import terminal in the Gulf state.

Hyundai E&C, Hyundai Engineering and Korea Gas Corporation will construct eight LNG storage tanks and docking facilities at the Al-Zour LNG import terminal.

The facility is scheduled for completion in 2020.