12 October 2015
Kuwait : Bob Dudley, BP's Group Chief Executive, today shared BP's vision for the oil and gas industry in Kuwait and the Middle East. Strong partnerships between international and national oil companies are the key to future success in helping to meet people's growing energy needs for decades to come, he said during the opening ceremony of the Kuwait Oil and Gas Show of 2015 (KOGS 2015).

The opening ceremony was attended by key government officials including His Highness Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Prime Minister, His Excellency Dr. Ali Saleh Al-Omair Minister of Oil, State of Kuwait, His Excellency Abdallah Salem El-Badri, Secretary General, OPEC, and other international and regional oil and gas leaders.

Dudley said: "With oil and gas becoming more difficult to extract, and low prices putting pressure on costs, the challenges may have grown. But so has our ability to meet the challenges of today and the demands of tomorrow."

"We can do that by combining the complementary strengths of national and international oil companies to the benefit of countries around the globe. Speaking for BP, we have a long history in Kuwait and the Middle East - and a deep commitment to its future as one of the world's energy heartlands," he added.

In his presentation, Dudley showcased the history of the oil and gas industry in Kuwait, and BP's role in the discovery and the development of those resources.

An example of that is the discovery of Burgan - the biggest sandstone reservoir in the world - in 1938. Last year, BP's signed an agreement with Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to bring its cutting-edge expertise in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) to Burgan. A BP team has since been working with KOC in the Wara formation on how to manage low pressure in the field.

Dudley set out how new reservoir management techniques, water injection treatments and well locations could be repeatable and adaptable across the whole of the Middle East region and indeed the globe.

In Iraq, for example, BP has been working with South Oil Company and PetroChina to improve drilling. This partnership has just completed their 200th new well over the past five years.

In Oman, BP's focus has been on introducing technology developed in the US for shale fields and deploying it in the Middle East to produce gas from some of the world's oldest and toughest sandstone - rocks that are as hard as granite at depths of over 5,000 metres.

In Egypt, earlier this year, BP announced its participation in a $12 billion investment in developing new gas supplies - as well as more investment in its existing oil operations at the Gulf of Suez, through GUPCO, and gas operations in the East Nile Delta through the Pharaonic Petroleum Co.

Finally, in Abu Dhabi BP has had a partnership over many decades bringing together BP's global technology capability and ADMA's local expertise.

These partnerships with National Oil Companies demonstrate the benefits of combining world-leading technologies and deep local experience. Looking forward, new partnerships like these can overcome short term challenges and meet the world's long term energy needs.

-Ends-

© Press Release 2015