By Osama Jalal

KUWAIT, Dec 28 (KUNA) -- Kuwaiti petrochemical plants currently produce 1.1 million metric tons of urea and 680 million tons of ammonia per year, according to Kuwait Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC).
Up to 45 percent of the production is exported to North America, 35 percent to South America, 10 percent to Thailand and the remainder to other markets, said Abdullah Al-Suwailem, PIC's Deputy CEO for Fertilizers, in remarks included in KUNA's quarterly oil report, which sheds extensive light on the national fertilizers' industry, crude prices and global petroleum industry.
The report quoted Hanan Al-Qaisy, KUNA's Deputy Chief Editor for Economic Affairs, as saying that the PIC had contributed to establishing the Bahraini Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (GPIC), with 33.3 percent of its stakes.
Sector of petrochemical industries is the main contributor to the Kuwaiti economy, Al-Qaisy said, for all of its companies are modern, feasible with satisfactory performance.
Al-Qaisy said the report second chapter sheds light on oil prices in Q3 of 2015, noting that the Kuwaiti crude price averaged USD 46.7 per barrel and country's output amounted to 2.855 million pd.
Kuwait, she added, is adherent to up the output to four million barrels per day by 2020, however she noted that the prices are basically affected with changing and divergent factors, such as geopolitical, economic reasons, supply and demand.
Elaborating, she said the prices, in the year Q3, declined, while rates of the exported Kuwaiti crude drastically dropped; simultaneously with production hike by other members of OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The Kuwaiti crude fell USD 11, 18.8 percent, reaching USD 58.72 pb.
In Q2, it dropped to USD 47.70 PB. In August, it dropped to USD 45.58 pb and to USD 43.69 pb in September.
Global crude reserves are estimated 1.5 trillion barrels. There more than 4,000 oil fields and 5,000 rigs for exploring and extracting the crudes worldwide.
Declared global output stands in the range of 90 million bpd. Kuwait ranks fifth with respect of reserves and seventh as to crude exportation and derivatives.
Nabil Bouresli, Managing Director for International Marketing at Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, is cited in the report, affirming that Kuwait plans to hike its crude production to four million bpd by 2020. Up to 90 percent of KPC's contracts are of long term nature -- they have been worked out with Asian, European states as well as the United States of America.
The KUNA report is posted on the news network website. (end) osj.rk