Blast will not affect Kuwait oil expansion programme

Kuwait City: Kuwait will continue with its plan to invest $26 billion in expanding production capacity even after crude prices declined 20 per cent in the third quarter, the head of the country's state-owned oil company said.

Kuwait's commitments to local and international oil products clients will not be affected by the partial shutdown of its 200,000 barrel-per-day Shuaiba refinery following a blast on Saturday, state-run agency said.

Oil prices are "unlikely to fall below $40 a barrel," Farouk Al Zanki, chairman of Kuwait Oil, said in an interview in Abu Dhabi with Bloomberg News.

Kuwait, a member of the 11-nation Opec, produced 2.49 million bpd last month. The country, which holds nine per cent of the world's oil reserves, plans to spend $2 billion a year to rehabilitate oil production facilities and develop new fields.