The Kuwait Oil Tankers Company (KOTC) recorded a net profit of 27 million Kuwaiti dinars ($88.3 million) before deductions during the financial year 2001/2002. The company accomplished total assets of $900 million and its cash funds reached KD 116 million ($380 million) over the year, reported KUNA. KOTC’s share of Kuwaiti oil shipping contracts amounts to approximately 18 percent.
KOTC signed two contracts in FY01/02 for the construction of five oil tankers. The company is preparing for the World Transport Law banning single hull tankers from loading oil as of 2007. Financing for the project has yet to be confirmed, however company sources revealed that local loans could cover the cost.
According to KOTC’s Assistant Managing Director Sheikh Salmon Hmoud Al-Sabah, domestic gas consumption reached 8.6 million cylinders and is expected to double by 2007. The company plans to establish an underground gas storage reservoir and a cylinder-loading site in the near future.
Founded in 1957 by a group of Kuwaiti investors, KOTC is a sea borne transporter of refined and liquefied crude. In 1979 the government acquired full control of the company's capital and one year later, it assumed responsibility for the transportation sector of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC). — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
