KUWAIT OIL UPDATE -- MARCH 22, 2003

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 001036 SIPDIS STATE FOR TASK FORCE 1 - EB ACTION OFFICER STATE ALSO FOR EB/ESC AND NEA/ARP TREASURY FOR OASIA USDOC FOR 4520/MAC/AME DOE FOR IE - L. COBURN AND C. WASHINGTON E.O. 12958: DECL: X5, X6 TAGS: EPET KU SUBJECT: KUWAIT OIL UPDATE -- MARCH 22, 2003 REF: KUWAIT 1020 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: DCM Frank C. Urbancic for reasons 1.5 (B) and (D) ¶1. (C) A senior KPC official told EconChief that the Kuwait Oil Company Firefighting team has been dispatched to Northern Kuwait to assess the situation and prepare to assist in fighting fires in Iraq's Rumaila field. Embassy understands that KOC Chairman Ahmad Al-Arbeed acted on instructions from Kuwait's acting Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmed Fahed Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in dispatching the team to the area at 0800 this morning. Arbeed and the Oil Minister are also traveling to the North today to assess the situation. The same KPC official noted that crude from the leaking and burning wells is encroaching on the Iraq-Kuwait border. ¶2. (C) Following is unedited data set received from Kuwait Petroleum Corporation afternoon of 3/22/03. Explanatory comments follow. Begin Report Kuwait Petroleum Corporation Daily Crude Production All figures in bbls This report covers activities from 0500 3/21/03 to 0500 3/22/00 Total Kuwait Production 2,483,487 KOC Proper: South East: 1,372,858 West: 356,573 North: 420,584 Total: 2,150,015 Wafra Joint Operations: R/B to KOC 134,337 R/B to KNPC 18,000 R/B to SAT 41 R/B total 152,378 Eocene 36,094 KGOC: Khafji 125,000 Hout 20,000 KEC Receipt 2,274,058 (API 30.7, Salt PTB 28.0) KEC Stock 4,588,613 KEC Ullage 9,605,118 (End Report) 3.(C) Explanatory Comments: Wafra Joint Operations refer to onshore concessions in Saudi-Kuwait divided zone operated by Saudi Arabian Texaco (SAT). R/B refers to the two producing reservoirs -- Ratawi and Burgan. KOC is Kuwait Oil Company KNPC is Kuwait National Petroleum Corporation KGOC is the Kuwaiti successor to Arabian Oil Company (AOC), which previously operated a concession in the offshore portions of the Saudi-Kuwait divided zone -- AOC still operates the fields under a service agreement. KEC refers to Kuwait Export Crude, the country's export blend. Salt PTB refers to pounds of salt per thousand barrels of crude oil. JONES