KUWAIT - Exploration.

In mid-1995 KOC suspended exploration work to concentrate on a seismic survey of Kuwait costing about $127m. Western Geophysical (Western Atlas) was contracted for $50m to do a 2-D survey of onshore and offshore areas over three to five years starting from Feb. 1996. Geco-Prakla of the UK (a unit of Schlumberger) was hired for about $75m to do a 3-D survey, the first ever in Kuwait, for five years, to concentrate on the primary reservoirs to examine the oil and gas formations of Burgan, Greater Burgan, Raudhatain, Sabriya, Umm Gudair and Minagish. Texaco and KOC formed a joint team to do 3-D surveys on Kuwait's side of the Divided Zone, in Wafra, and the Humma formation believed to have big potential.

The first to explore in Kuwait was a BP-Gulf Oil partnership, KOC. It won a 6,000 sq mile concession in Dec. 1934. Its exploration led to the discovery of Burgan in 1938 and, after World War 2, it found Magwa in 1951 and Ahmadi in 1952 with both being extensions of Burgan. It found Raudhatain in 1955 and Bahra and Sabriya in 1956. Later KOC explored the south-west and south, having enlarged its concession to cover most of the emirate with the exception of the Divided Zone. It was guided mainly by the Greater Burgan Trend's extensions to the west and south. It found Minagish in 1959, Umm Gudair in 1962 and Rugei in 1972.

In 1948, the American Independent Oil Co. (Aminoil) won the onshore concession in the Neutral Zone, shared equally by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, and began exploration in the following year. It found Wafra in 1953 and South Umm Gudair in 1966. In 1958, Arabian Oil Co. (AOC) of Japan won the offshore concession in the Neutral Zone and found Khafji in 1960, Hout in 1963, Lulu in 1966 and Dorra in 1967.

In 1961, Shell won a 1,500 sq mile block in southern Kuwait's offshore but stopped its work in 1963 after drilling four dry holes. That area - now thought to be potentially rich in gas and perhaps structurally linked to major gas fields in the Gulf found by Shell - was disputed by both Iran and Saudi Arabia. Kuwait did not press its claim to the area at the time because it had a border dispute with Iraq, which caused Shell to relinquish the block in Feb. 1980. In 1968 Hispanoil and Kuwait National Petroleum Co. (KNPC) got a 3,600 sq mile bloc relinquished by KOC. The Spanish firm held 49% and was operator. But Kuwait Spanish Petroleum Co., failed to find oil and relinquished that area in 1976, with KNPC then concentrating on its role as an oil refiner.

Kuwait nationalised KOC on Dec. 1, 1975, with effect to March 1995. Talks with BP-Gulf for a SC failed. It nationalised Aminoil in 1977. In agreement with Saudi Arabia, it brought Getty Oil to operate Wafra and a small refinery at Mina Saud under a concession lasting until 2010. Getty was bought by Texaco in 1984, the year Chevron bought Gulf Oil Corp. The nationalised KOC resumed oil exploration with the help of Western geologists and in 1978 found Ratqa. The oil sector was restructured in 1980 with the creation of KPC as an integrated upstream/ downstream entity owned by the state. KOC became one of its units. In 1981, KPC bought Santa Fe International of the US to boost its upstream operations in Kuwait and overseas. With the help of Santa Fe, KOC in 1984 found South Magwa. In that year it also found Abdaliya and Tharif. It found oil structures in the Kabd region, in central Kuwait. These finds added about 25 bn barrels to Kuwait's proven oil reserves. In 1983 and 1984, KPC bought some of Gulf Oil's refining and distribution units in West Europe.