Kuwait Gulf Oil Company’s managing director, Bader Al Khashti, said that production from Al Khafji oilfield is expected to rise to 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the first quarter.

Al Seyassah newspaper quoted Khashti saying, “The Company is working on a big number of explorations and drilling operations in the divided zone to reach the set goals of the firm and its Saudi partner.”

Khafji, which is in the Neutral Zone between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, has oil production capacity of around 550,000 bpd. Both countries plan to boost capacity in the zone to 700,000-900,000 bpd by 2030.

Khashti added that the current oil production from Khafji is at 272,000 bpd, and the gas production is between 60 million to 70 million cubic feet per day, equally divided between the two countries.

Kuwait, the world’s fourth largest oil exporter, pumped 2.28 million bpd of crude in January. Kuwaiti Oil Minister Ahmed Al Abdullah said that his country is aiming to reach an oil production capacity of 4 million bpd in 2020 and sustain it until 2030.