KUWAIT, Feb 12 (KUNA) -- Farouk Al-Zanki, CEO and deputy chairman of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), said Sunday the State of Kuwait has developed an emergency plan for tackling a possible closure of the Straits of Hormuz.

"Besides the already-set plan, there are also alternative plans for managing any crisis that could affect the oil exports stemming from the regional geo-political tensions as well as the domestic or external factors," Al-Zanki told reporters here.

He made the remarks after opening the Second Kuwait Oil and Gas Summit and Exhibition, February 12-15, being organized by KPC.

"The country's daily oil output average ranged between 2.9 and 3 million barrels last January," Al-Zanki pointed out.

Asked about the recent price hikes, he said, the last few days showed that the global oil market is controlled by not only the traditional factors such as supply and demand, but other geopolitical factors in the Middle East and beyond.

"The current prices are suitable and helpful for Kuwait to pump more investments into the oil exploration and development projects. The costs of the exploration operation ran high, so the price hikes struck a balance between costs and revenues," he explained.

The State of Kuwait always seeks to maintain stability of the global oil market through insuring sufficient supplies," he went on.

Regarding the country's gas strategy, he said the KPC devised a plan for developing the gas resources in the northern and southern parts of the country to meet the rising domestic needs in the coming two years. "The government has to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from neighboring countries in every summer to alleviate strains on the consumption of electricity," Al-Zanki noted.

He stated that an expert team from the KPC is reviewing the feasibility study of the project to launch an oil refinery in China in collaboration with the French Total.

The annual oil and gas summit and exhibition, which gathers, for the second time, the major players in the hydrocarbon industry, provides an opportunity for Kuwait to know about the latest technologies in this sector while implementing its ambitious plans.

Al-Zanki added that Kuwait plans to expand its oil production to four million barrels per day by 2020 and construct new oil refineries and upgrade the existing ones, besides launching a petrochemical complex.