Nearly 45 per cent of the work on the Al-Zour refinery in Kuwait has been completed and the project is on track for opening early next year, reported the Arab Times, citing the country's oil minister.

The Al-Zour refinery project is an environmentally strategic one aimed at protecting the environment and meet the local and global needs in accordance with the highest standards for the specifications of petroleum products, stated the report.

With the project competion, Kuwait’s oil production capacity will reach 3.255 million barrels per day (bpd) by the end of March 2019, revealed Oil Minister and Minister of Electricity and Water Bakheet Al Rasheedi in an interview with Kuwait News Agency (Kuna).

The volume of Kuwaiti exports of crude oil is about 2.1 million barrels per day, while the daily production volume is about 2.7 million barrels per day in line with the agreement to cut production between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and producers from outside the cartel, he stated.

Al Rasheedi pointed out that oil prices were being affected by a combination of factors, most notably the recovery of growth rate of demand, improving the rate of growth of the global economy and the geopolitical and technical developments, which affect production of some countries.

The Clean Fuels Project aims to produce an environmentally-clean Kuwaiti fuel production in line with global demand patterns in the markets as well as “maintaining our markets and secure new markets”, noting that the completion rates in the project is 90 per cent and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

According to him, the producers’ agreement from within and outside Opec to reduce production, which came into force in January 2017, contributed to the efforts to restore the balance of markets, which reflected positively on oil prices, which has risen in the past period following improvement in the balance of demand and supply in the markets.

The recent decision on the extension of the agreement to reduce production until the end of this year will achieve the balance required by the end of next year amid an obvious recovery in the basic market factors associated with supply and demand, he added.

On the current oil prices, he said that there is “no specific fair price” because it changes according to market conditions, as the price level reflects the state of the oil market, noting that the state of improving the fundamentals of the oil market will strengthen prices levels in the coming months, said the Arab Times report.

On KPC’s new strategy of producing 4.750 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2040, the minister said that the company has translated its strategic directions into a roadmap to ensure its achievement and supports Kuwait’s domestic and international role as a reliable source of energy security.