Kuwait Petroleum Corporation

State of Kuwait
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation
مؤسسة البترول الكويتية
Agency overview
Headquarters Al Shuwaikh, Al Asimah
Coordinates: 29°21′14″N 47°56′32″E / 29.35389°N 47.94222°E
Agency executive Nizar Mohammad Al Adsani, Chief Executive Officer
Website http://www.kpc.com.kw
The headquarters of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) in Gulf Street.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (Arabic: مؤسسة البترول الكويتية) is Kuwait's national oil company, headquartered in Kuwait City. The activities of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) are focused on petroleum exploration, production, petrochemicals, refining, marketing, and transportation. KPC plans are to achieve crude oil production capacities in Kuwait of 3.0 million barrels per day by 2010, 3.5 million barrels per day by 2015 and 4.0 million barrels per day by 2020.[1][2]

History and profile

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation was founded on 27 January 1980[3] as an umbrella company, integrating KOC, KNPC, KOTC and PIC and effectively placing them under government control.

In May 2013 Nizar Mohammad Al Asani was appointed chief executive officer of the corporation, replacing Farouk Zanki in the post.[4]

Products

The company's products have been sold in some countries under a subsidiary's name Q8. In Europe, Q8 has a network of more than 4,400 service stations across six countries: Italy, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and, in Sweden, as the OKQ8 joint venture.[5]

In Scandinavia, Q8 runs 186 service stations, and 54 unmanned (under the F24 brand) in Denmark. In Sweden, a subsidiary of KPC, KPI-Q8's gas stations are known as OKQ8 - a result of a merger between Q8 and Swedish "OK", more than 900 is available, most of them unmanned.

In the Benelux, Kuwait Petroleum has a refinery in Europoort, Rotterdam, and is a partner in the Maasvlakte Olie Terminal, and runs 146 gas stations in the Netherlands. There are 404 Q8 stations in Belgium. Q8's large share of the Belgian market is due to the acquisition of Belgian BP offices in 1998 and the Aral stations in 1999. However, over the years, Q8 has closed many stations in residential areas and near apartment complexes. Like its competitors, Q8 also has a network of unmanned gas stations called Q8 Easy. In Belgium, Q8 has formed a partnership of sorts with Delhaize Shop'n Go. This is a small convenience store where ready-to-use and on-the-go products are sold. However, it still is able to offer a wide variety of automotive services. They have extensive hours, and are often combined with a Panos Corner bakery.

There are no more Q8 stores in the UK, after being bought out in 2004 by a joint venture company Refined Holdings, which was formed specifically for the sale. The Q8 brand has since then been phased out of the UK.

Kuwait Petroleum Corp., the state-run oil company, will sell its crude oil at $3.95 a barrel below the regional benchmarks, the biggest discount since December 2008, Bloomberg reported Dec. 11, 2014. Saudi Arabia and Iraq also cut oil prices for Asia following the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' decision to maintain production levels, which ensured that global oil prices would stay low. It is likely that Middle Eastern countries are lowering prices to defend their market shares. Kuwait has sold crude oil to Asia at a discount since at least 2000.[6]


Subsidiaries

An oil refinery in Mina-Al-Ahmadi, Kuwait.

The subsidiary companies of KPC are:[7]

References

External links