OPEC member Kuwait has approved a much higher budget for its oil companies at around 15.40 billion Kuwaiti dinars ($50.82 billion) for fiscal year 2021-2022 starting on 1 April, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The spending set by the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), which manages the Gulf emirate's massive hydrocarbon sector, is nearly 42 percent higher than the 2020-2021 budget of 10.96 billion dinars ($36.16 billion), the Arabic language daily Al-Anba said, citing a KPC budget document.

The report said KPC, which has some 10 subsidiaries, projected 2021-2022 revenues at around 15.99 billion dinars ($52.7 billion), nearly 34 percent above the forecast revenues of nearly $11.9 billion (39.3 billion) in the previous fiscal year.

The 2021-2022 income is based on a projected oil price of $45 a barrel and average crude production of 2.42 million barrel per day, it said.

Direct expenditure, comprising projects and operations, is estimated at about 13.4 billion dinars ($44.2 billion) in 2021-2022, far above the 2020-2021 direct spending of around 9.4 billion dinars ($31.02 billion), the report showed.

A breakdown showed the 2021-2022 projected revenues include around 6.4 billion dinars ($21.12 billion) in crude oil sales, 7.1 billion ($23.43 billion) worth of petroleum products and 1.8 billion dinars ($5.94 billion) worth of gas sales.

(Writing by Nadim Kawach; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

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