Kuwait has raised oil production to more than 2 million barrels per day (mmbbl/d) after output fell to nearly zero at the height of the Iran war, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) CEO Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah said in an interview with Bloomberg on October 22.

Kuwait has restored crude oil exports to prewar levels, but returning production to approximately 2.7 mmbbl/d would require additional security for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, Al-Sabah said.

“We have been able to increase our production from almost zero at the height of the crisis to more than 2 million now,” Al-Sabah said, adding that Kuwait’s oil facilities and fields had demonstrated their resilience.

Kuwait is meeting its crude oil supply commitments, with exports broadly back at prewar levels. However, exporting refined petroleum products remains more challenging, particularly as the country seeks to expand shipments of diesel and jet fuel, Al-Sabah said.

He added that Kuwait needed more tankers to enter the Gulf and transport petroleum products to international markets. The country’s refining capacity is significant for global diesel and aviation fuel supplies.

Kuwait is studying two potential oil export pipeline routes through Saudi Arabia and the UAE to reduce its reliance on the Strait of Hormuz. The proposed routes would connect Kuwait to Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast and the Emirati port of Fujairah, according to MEED.