Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) announced on Monday that it would begin a three-dimensional exploratory survey project in Kuwait Bay, reported KUNA. The project is earmarked to be largest in the world and will be conducted in cooperation with China National Petroleum Corporation (BGP).

KOC Executive vice president for exploration and gas Manahi Al-Anazi explained that the 3D survey is part of the company’s strategy for 2030 aimed to produce 65.3 million b/d of oil by 2020, and maintain it until 2030.

KOC intends to make use of BGP’s considerable experience in this regard, one of China’s largest surveys companies that has worked in the Gulf region before, he added. The project is expected to be completed by June 2017.

According to the MEED news site Kuwait’s production figures have been slipping recently because of the dispute with Saudi Arabia in the shared neutral zone. Hence the decision on 9 August to bid on a new scheme to develop four oil and gas fields in KOC’s Jurassic basin. If successful this could as much as 120,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (boe/d) to Kuwaiti production.