In the Heart of the Matter: Kuwait Petroleum Corporation Studies Alternatives
The Managing Director of Global Marketing at Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Sheikh Khaled Al-Sabah, stated that the corporation is seeking to purchase additional tankers to boost its export capacity, and that it plans to increase refinery utilization rates to enhance supplies of diverse petroleum derivatives, particularly diesel, which is in short supply in global markets. These are prudent, proactive steps that deserve praise, as they position the corporation ahead of the “quota” for scarce products in the market.
The most significant aspect of his statement was the exploration of options for laying pipelines through neighboring countries and constructing external storage facilities to supply customers with crude oil and petroleum products, amid the ongoing conflict between the United States and Iran. Laying Kuwaiti oil pipelines, or integrating them with the networks of other Gulf states, should have been undertaken since the 1980s, during the Iran-Iraq War. Kuwait’s need for such infrastructure was urgent and longstanding, not a consequence of the current war, as Iranian attacks on Kuwaiti ships and oil facilities began during that period and continued afterward, not just now. The so-called “Tanker War” during that era, along with continuous Iranian threats to navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and to neighboring countries during the Iran-Iraq War, prompted Gulf states and Iraq to lay alternative pipelines for overland oil transport. Several important strategic pipelines were indeed constructed and expanded, contributing significantly to the export of their oil products. Saudi Arabia expedited the construction and expansion of the strategic East-West Pipeline to transport oil from Eastern Province fields to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea. Meanwhile, Iraq, which was at war with Iran, quickly laid a pipeline to transport southern Iraqi oil to the port of Al-Majaz in Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea, and increased the capacity of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline in Turkey, adding a second line that further boosted its export capacity.
The idea of creating integrated Gulf interconnection networks is superior to individual projects by each state. Having a unified regional system for energy transport and logistics, linking Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) fields through shared pipelines, railways, and ports opening onto the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and even the Mediterranean Sea, is a necessary solution to overcome most of the challenges facing our countries currently and in the future. The importance of comprehensive Gulf integration lies in risk diversification, transforming energy transport from an individual decision into a joint sovereign investment project among them. This will undoubtedly reduce construction and operational costs and allow flexibility in bidirectional oil and gas transport according to market needs and requirements. Most importantly, this integration enhances the security of our livelihood sources by providing multiple export outlets in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
