Kuwait expects oil prices to rise in the near future, according to the country’s oil minister, Ali Saleh al-Omair.
“All indicators point to an improvement in prices … today we have reached the stage where a fall is difficult, a fall has now become unlikely,” Ali Saleh al-Omair told reporters.
Omair has also confirmed that estimated costs for the country’s al-Zour refinery were expected to increase by around $3.31 billion. The total cost of the project will now exceed $16bn.
According to senior officials at KNPC, the al-Zour refinery will now be delayed until early 2019, as the company awaits additional funds to finance construction packages.
Kuwait hopes that recovering oil prices will provide it with the revenue necessary to invest in the project.
The 615,000 barrel per day al-Zour refinery will be the biggest refining facility in the Middle East.
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