Kuwait’s acting oil minister said on Wednesday that the country’s oil reserves stood at around 100 billion barrels, dismissing reports that reserves were only half what the OPEC member had stated.
“I can confirm that the reserves are 100 billion barrels,” acting Oil Minister Mohammad al-Olaim told reporters after discussing reserves in a closed-door session with MPs.
“Data and information from several agencies were presented to MPs to prove that the oil reserves were as previously stated, that is 100 billion barrels.”
The reserves in the world’s seventh-largest oil exporter became a sensitive issue last year when industry newsletter Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (PIW) said it had seen internal records showing reserves were about 48 billion barrels – about half what was officially stated.
The difference was equal to more than four % of global proved oil reserves, according to data in BP’s annual statistical review, the oil industry’s most trusted.
Deputies had threatened not to pass this year’s budget unless the government disclosed the size of reserves.
Former Oil Minister Sheikh Ali al-Jarrah al-Sabah, who resigned in late June, refused to clarify the country’s reserves during his year in the job.
Kuwait produced around 2.4 million barrels per day of crude in June, according to a Reuters survey.
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