Kuwait produces more than 2 million barrels a day, restores crude exports to pre-war levels
Key Facts
Kuwait is producing more than 2 million barrels of oil a day and exporting crude at pre-war levels, ING said in its report issued on October 22, citing the chief executive of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. This follows the chief executive's statement at a London conference on October 5 that production had fallen from about 2.6 million barrels a day to 2 million barrels a day, according to Reuters. He also told the same conference that Kuwait's crude exports had remained at about 1 million barrels a day during the year despite wartime disruptions. That puts current production above the level announced in early October, with crude continuing to reach markets. But the chief executive acknowledged, according to the bank's report, that shipping refined petroleum products faces greater difficulties, while crude exports have returned to pre-war levels.
The difficulties in exporting fuel are reflected in S&P Global's seaborne commodities data, which put Kuwait's petroleum product exports at 174,000 barrels a day in August 2026. Jet fuel and kerosene led those shipments, compared with total petroleum product exports of 847,000 barrels a day in February. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation's chief executive said in remarks reported by Dow Jones-owned OPIS that Middle Eastern refineries rely on sea transport to export fuel because "there are no pipelines for refined products." On global supplies, he estimated at the London conference that the war had caused a refined products shortfall of about 6 million barrels a day, according to Reuters. He stressed the priority of restarting the region's refineries and getting fuel to markets, as Kuwaiti product shipments face those maritime constraints.
Kuwait is using its own fleet to transport crude oil and refined products as part of ongoing shipping arrangements to get supplies to markets. The chief executive told an energy forum in London in early October that the fleet's transport capacity was about 2.1 to 2.2 million barrels a day, according to OPIS. That capacity covers both crude and products, while Kuwait's current oil production exceeds 2 million barrels a day. The fleet uses shuttle voyages as part of its cargo transfer operations. The arrangements also include ship-to-ship oil transfers outside the Strait of Hormuz, a method the chief executive described as part of efforts to deliver Kuwaiti oil to buyers.
Alongside the maritime transport arrangements, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation plans to increase overseas storage as part of efforts to ease export bottlenecks, according to OPIS. The plan includes refineries in which the corporation holds stakes in Vietnam, Oman and Italy's Sicily. S&P Global previously reported that the corporation was seeking to add storage facilities to accommodate cargoes and manage inventory timing. These facilities are intended to maintain sales when direct loading is disrupted or transport routes face disruption. The corporation's efforts thus combine increased storage at refineries in which it holds stakes with additional capacity to accommodate cargoes during disruptions to direct exports.
In its broader oil market outlook, the U.S. Energy Information Administration forecast in its October report that the Brent spot price would average $105 a barrel in the final quarter of 2026. The report assumes that the use of convoys through the Strait of Hormuz and alternative routes will support increased regional production and exports over the forecast period. That assumption also includes ship-to-ship transfers, with restrictions on oil flows continuing. Over the longer term, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation's chief executive reaffirmed the country's target of raising oil production capacity to 4 million barrels a day by 2035, according to OPIS. That target concerns the production capacity Kuwait aims to reach, while currently reported actual production remains above 2 million barrels a day.