Kuwaiti state-owned KPC's foreign upstream subsidiary Kufpec has signed a joint oil and gas agreement with Mexico as part of its wider plan to expand its global footprint.
The initial deal to explore and produce oil and gas from Mexico was signed with PMI, the trading arm of Mexico's national oil company Pemex. The companies' co-operation will also be worldwide, Kufpec said, but did not confirm whether any projects have already been targeted. Pemex has signed a series of co-operation deals with foreign firms aiming to bring expertise and experience to the state-owned oil company on the eve of a first-ever upstream licensing round.
Kufpec's deal comes less than a month after it agreed to buy a 30pc stake for $1.5bn from Chevron's Duvernay shale operations in Canada. The deal reflects foreign firms' continued appetite for a piece of the North American shale boom despite the recent slump in oil prices. Kufpec has long been viewed as one of the lesser components of KPC's operations. But its strategic freedom and budget have grown over the past year as Kuwait has ramped up its global ambitions.
Kuwait doubled its crude exports to China in August through a 10-year, 300,000 b/d supply deal, which accounts for 15pc of its total crude exports. KPC's overseas downstream arm KPI is pursuing crude export and refining contracts and has particularly widened Kuwait's presence in Asia over the past year.
KPC has also worked on reaffirming its long-held position in Europe, although the company plans to sell its 88,000 b/d Kuwait Petroleum Europoort refinery in Rotterdam. Its $171mn loss last year is in line with the financial difficulties that the majority of European refiners are facing.
All of Kuwait's downstream plans rely on the country hitting its production capacity target of 4mn b/d by 2020, up from around 2.9mn b/d. Many Kuwaiti officials doubt that the much-delayed upstream projects will be completed in time for production to hit the 2020 target, but KPC insists plans are on track.
mm/rjd
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