Kuwait’s plans announced last week to invest at least US$6.1 billion in exploration over the next five years in order to increase production to a minimum of 4 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2040 – up from the 2020 average of 2.43 million bpd – look highly optimistic. This is even without factoring in the further negative effects of its inescapable but toxic relationship with Saudi Arabia. On the face of it, the fact that Kuwait’s fiscal breakeven Brent oil price for 2022 is set to fall to US$64.50 per barrel (pb) from US$69.30 pb in 2021 and US$68.10 pb in 2020, according to IMF figures, would seem cause for optimism for the Emirate’s ability to turn around its recent financial troubles. Indeed, the US$6 billion+ investment announcement from the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) seems to have been produced in part on the back of this apparently positive […]