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P 041128Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8206
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 1354
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 000164 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON FOR TSOU 
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY FOR IE 
EB/ESC/IEC FOR GALLOGLY, GRIFFIN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2017 
TAGS: ENRG EPET ECON BEXP KU OIL SECTOR
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR DISCUSSES ENERGY ISSUES WITH KUWAIT OIL 
COMPANY CEO 
 
Classified By: Economic Counselor Tim Lenderking for Reasons 1.4 (b) an 
d (d) 
 
¶1.  (C/NF)  Summary:  On January 14, the Ambassador met with 
Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) Chairman and Managing Director 
Farouk Al-Zanki to discuss developments in the energy sector. 
 KOC manages all of Kuwait's upstream oil and gas production. 
 Al-Zanki highlighted the potential for "enhanced technical 
service agreements (TSAs)" to encourage greater participation 
by International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Kuwait's upstream 
oil and gas production.  He described the enhanced TSAs 
(which incorporate substantial financial rewards for 
achieving production targets) as a hybrid of standard TSAs 
and traditional production sharing agreements (PSAs).  The 
introduction of PSAs in Kuwait would be politically 
controversial and constitutionally problematic.  Regarding 
controversial plans to build a 615,000 bpd mega-refinery on 
the doorstep of Saudi Arabian Texaco's (Chevron's) facilities 
in the Partitioned Neutral Zone (PNZ) shared by Kuwait and 
Saudi Arabia, Al-Zanki said that the project would need to be 
re-tendered in order to attract more affordable bids.  The 
process of re-tendering could take four to five months.  On 
gas production, Al-Zanki said the 35 trillion cu. ft. 
non-associated gas find announced in 2006 showed great 
promise with Phase I production expected to begin this year. 
However, some doubt exists about how easy it will be to 
develop the field.  Hani Hussain, Deputy Chairman and CEO of 
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, the parent company of KOC, will 
resign in 2007.  His successor has not been named, Al-Zanki 
said, but offered it would not be him.  End summary. 
 
¶2.  (U)  Ambassador called on Kuwait Oil Company Chief 
Executive Farouk Al-Zanki on January 14.  KOC, established in 
1934, has lead responsibility for exploration and production 
of oil and gas within Kuwait and the country's territorial 
waters.  KOC's current production capacity is estimated at 
approximately 2.5 million barrels per day. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Enhanced Technical Service Agreements 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C/NF)  Al-Zanki told the Ambassador KOC was exploring 
"enhanced" TSAs with IOCs in Kuwait.  He acknowledged that 
under existing TSAs - with Exxon, Chevron, BP, and others - 
the IOCs do "everything for us" (i.e. provide assistance with 
exploration, reservoir mapping, production planning, and 
field operations), and "they don't get paid enough" for doing 
it.  (Note: In private conversations, IOC managers in Kuwait 
confess that revenues from TSAs barely cover costs, and that 
they enter into these contracts only to maintain a 
relationship with KOC in the hope of eventually being awarded 
a PSA.)  "We admit that it's a consultation" relationship 
with the IOCs, Al-Zanki said.  The enhanced TSAs would give 
the IOCs more supervisory authority and allow them to be 
rewarded for helping KOC reach designated production targets. 
 The difficulty, he said, was that enhanced TSAs were likely 
to be reviewed by the State Audit Bureau, with questions 
asked about why the GOK was paying ten times more for 
services and technical expertise than under a standard TSA. 
How would we overcome this, even with the Kuwait Petroleum 
Corporation (KPC), he wondered.  (Note:  Mid-level sources 
within KPC have described frustration among some of the 
company's engineers that they are being relegated to a 
second-class status as consultants from IOCs assume greater 
responsibility and higher compensation.  Post's sources say 
this perception that KPC management is undervaluing its 
organic talent is leading to morale problems within the KPC 
rank-and-file.)  This is a new model and "bewildering" for 
the IOCs which are more accustomed to traditional PSAs, 
Al-Zanki said. 
 
¶4.  (C/NF)  The Ambassador asked how the enhanced TSAs would 
affect the development of the northern oil fields.  (Note: 
The $8.5 billion Project Kuwait is a proposal to invite IOCs 
to participate as partners in the development of four 
difficult oil fields in the North of the country through some 
type of production sharing agreement.  The Project is 
controversial since foreign companies have been excluded from 
directly participating in Kuwait's upstream operations since 
nationalization in 1975.  Kuwait's constitution bars foreign 
ownership or control of the country's oil.  We are concerned 
that development of the northern oil fields under a TSA 
rather than a PSA could create an incentive for IOCs to 
"overdevelop" these fields in order to maximize short-term 
 
KUWAIT 00000164  002 OF 003 
 
 
earnings, thus damaging the reservoirs and reducing the 
quantity of oil ultimately recovered.  Under an extended PSA, 
IOCs might be more likely to take a long-term view to 
maximizing production.)  Al-Zanki said part of the strategy 
for the northern oil fields was linked to gas production, for 
which Kuwait needed external help.  He added that such help 
would also be needed for the development of the northern oil 
fields.  Barring the possibility of a PSA, IOCs would prefer 
"enhanced TSAs," which would include production incentives, 
over existing TSAs, which only provided a fixed fee for 
services rendered.  According to Al-Zanki, "Even the Iraqis 
are interested in the KOC approach (of enhanced TSAs)," which 
he described as a hybrid model of PSAs and conventional TSAs. 
 
--------------- 
Fourth Refinery 
--------------- 
 
¶5.  (C/NF)  The Ambassador raised the controversial 615,000 
bpd refinery, which Kuwait intends to build in the 
Partitioned Neutral Zone (PNZ) adjacent to the compound of 
Saudi Arabian Texaco (Chevron), and which Kuwait claims is an 
economic and security priority as it seeks to phase out aging 
refining facilities and replace them with a safer, more 
modern, and more environmentally-friendly plant.  Al-Zanki 
said the refinery is going nowhere.  (Note: In mid-January, 
KNPC announced that it would be reconsidering the refinery 
tender, since the bids received were too high.  According to 
Project Manager Ahmed Al-Jimaz, the project was budgeted at 
$6.3 billion, but the bids came in at approximately $15 
billion.  Re-tendering the project with revised terms and 
conditions could take four to five months.)  Al-Zanki said 
the refinery would need to be re-tendered using a different 
model.  He thought a "cost-plus" model would be the only way 
to attract affordable bids.  Al-Zanki acknowledged that the 
proposed site of the refinery was controversial. (Note: Both 
Chevron and the Government of Saudi Arabia have expressed 
their objections to Kuwait's plans to build the refinery next 
to Saudi Arabian Texaco's compound in the PNZ.)  He said he 
had spoken with Chevron about the issue. 
 
------- 
Big Gas 
------- 
 
¶6.  (C/NF)  The Ambassador asked about the new gas find. 
(Note:  In 2006, Kuwait announced the discovery of a 35 
trillion cubic foot (est.) non-associated gas field in the 
North of the country.  In recent press statements, Al-Zanki 
has announced gas production goals of 175 million cubic feet 
per day (cfd) for 2007, 600 million cfd by 2011, and one 
billion cfd by 2015.)  Al-Zanki said some were doubting the 
potential of the find although there was clearly a great deal 
of gas and a great deal of condensate to exploit.  He said 
KOC was in contact with Shell for a preliminary evaluation. 
So far everyone was happy, he said.  There was no doubt it 
was a big find - but how big was not clear. (Note:  Post 
contacts at Schlumberger, which has been working with KOC to 
estimate the potential of the field, have said their 
preliminary studies indicate that the quantity is indeed 
close to 35 tcf but that that the field will be difficult to 
develop due to its geographic complexity.)  Kuwait expects to 
use all of its Phase I production of 175 mcfd in domestic 
power plants.  Al-Zanki said Kuwait still needs to explore 
deeper below the surface, where there is greater potential. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  As for the Dorra gas field which is shared by 
Kuwait, Iran, and Saudi Arabia, Al-Zanki said the field could 
provide 500 million cfd, but there is little discussion with 
Iran on the issue.  (Note: Kuwait and Saudi Arabia came to an 
agreement in 2005 to begin exploration of the field, but 
Kuwait and Iran still need to negotiate their offshore border 
demarcations which will affect drilling rights.) 
 
------------------------------------------ 
The Future of the Industry, Here and There 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶8.  (SBU)  Hani Hussain, Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive 
of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, has submitted his 
resignation which will become effective in 2007, Al-Zanki 
said.  Al-Zanki denied he would succeed Hussain, as he wanted 
to remain on the "technical side" of the industry" and 
perhaps conclude "some things" with the IOCs.  (Comment: 
Hussein's successor has not yet been named, but Sami 
 
KUWAIT 00000164  003 OF 003 
 
 
Al-Reshaid, Chief Executive of Kuwait National Petroleum 
Company is rumored to be the leading contender.) 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Commenting on staffing in the oil industry in 
general, Al-Zanki complained there were not enough qualified 
Kuwaiti graduates to fill the demand for jobs.  The focus in 
the industry is on "difficult" oil, Al-Zanki said, and 
Kuwait's oil companies need technicians and experts.  He said 
the Saudis are snatching up technical experts with generous 
offers and incentives the GOK cannot match.  Al-Zanki noted 
that Chevron representatives had similarly complained to him 
that there was an "anti-big oil bias" in the West that was 
discouraging young westerners from joining the industry. 
 
********************************************* * 
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s 
 
Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
 
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TUELLER