Kuwaiti Oil Minister Adel Al Subaih said on Wednesday he had "great hopes" that Parliament would approve a bill by early next year to allow international oil firms to operate in the country's upstream sector, reported the Gulf Daily News.
"We have very great hopes it will be approved by the end of this year or early next year," Subaih said on the sidelines of an oil industry conference in London.
"We are the most democratic in the Gulf and we have a big margin to hear criticism," he said when asked whether he remained optimistic about a breakthrough despite vociferous parliamentarian opposition to the plan, which emerged in the mid-1990s.
The ministry has come under fire from parliamentarians over the long-delayed Project Kuwait, which calls for a possible investment of some $7 billion in northern oil fields which currently produce around 500,000 barrels per day.
It would allow foreign oil companies to operate the fields, using technology, which Kuwait lacks, to almost double their output to 900,000 barrel per day (bpd) by 2005, said the paper.
The area has estimated reserves of 10 billion barrels.
If the bill is put on the agenda when Parliament reconvenes in October and is passed, it would be the first time that foreign firms have been permitted to operate domestic fields since the sector was nationalized two decades ago.
Subaih said the ministry was currently finalizing fiscal terms and draft contract documents.
These would require the agreement of the Supreme Petroleum Council before drafts were sent out to foreign oil firms wishing to participate.
Subaih said firms would then be requested to submit development plans.
OPEC member Kuwait currently produces around two million barrels per day – Albawaba.com
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