Kuwaiti MPs want size of oil reserves disclosed

Kuwait: Several Kuwaiti deputies have threatened not to approve this year's national budget if the government fails to disclose the size of its oil reserves, a newspaper reported on Monday.

Parliament is expected to approve the budget of the major OPEC producer by the end of its final session on Wednesday before a summer break.

"We cannot make the correct future plans without knowing the size of the reserves... so this should be made clear to parliamentarians before the session to pass the state budget,"Alam Alyawm newspaper quoted deputy Ahmad Lari as saying.

MP Daifallah Buramya also told the paper he would not support approval of the state's budget if the size of the country's oil reserves is not disclosed.

Alyawm quoted an unidentified official source as saying the government is prepared to disclose the size of the reserves in a closed-door session but will require time to do so since it has to collect data.

The size of the oil reserves is a sensitive issue in Kuwait since industry newsletter Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (PIW) said in January 2006 it had seen internal records showing they were about 48 billion barrels, half the officially stated 99 billion. The difference is equal to over four per cent of global proved oil reserves, according to data in BP's annual statistical review.

Former Oil Minister Sheikh Ali Al Jarrah Al Sabah, who resigned last month, sparked confusion when he told the daily Al Jarida in May he could not deny these estimates while at the same time questioning how reserves were defined. Depending on definition, a wide range of estimates could be correct, he said.

Sheikh Ali later refused to elaborate or clarify his comments. He had previously said the government would not disclose the oil reserves.

Kuwait, the world's seventh-largest oil exporter, has production capacity of around 2.8 million bpd. The OPEC member produced around 2.4 million bpd in May, according to a Reuters data.

State-owned Kuwait Oil Co. (KOC) chairman Farouk Al Zanki told Reuters on July 3 Kuwait is on track to produce four million barrels per day by 2020, but may reach the target earlier after making new discoveries.

Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas daily said several deputies plan to submit a proposal calling for making a link between daily oil production and the size of reserves. A similar proposal last year failed to reach the assembly's floor for a debate.