Kuwait - Sa'd al-Shuwaib.

On May 1, 2007, Sa'd al-Shuwaib was appointed acting CEO and vice-chairman of KPC. Later Shuwaib was confirmed as a permanent CEO of KPC, having succeeded Hani Abdul-Aziz Hussein, who quit in late April 2007 - several months before his three-year contract was due to end. Hussein has since become adviser in petroleum affairs to PM Shaikh Nasser. Previously, Shuwaib was chairman and CEO of KPC's unit Petrochemical Industries Co. (PIC).

On the sidelines of an energy forum, Shuwaib on March 30, 2009, told reporters the emirate had boosted its crude oil production capacity to 3m b/d and aimed to raise it to 3.5m b/d by 2015 and to 4m b/d by 2020. Responding to questions as to whether the drop in world oil prices since WTI's peak of $147.27/b on July 11, 2008, had affected KPC's projects, Shuwaib said: "Of course, some projects will be affected. However, the main projects which affect the production capabilities in the futuredefinitely we are not changing" (see omt23KuwtFieldsJun8-09).

Shuwaib in 2008 found himself in the middle of power struggles within KPC's top management and between this group and the oil ministry. This was worsened by a long-standing power struggle between the government and parliament. As a result, the SPC in late 2008 was compelled to withdraw its support for the $17.5 bn US JV with Dow - K-Dow - after parliament said the venture was too expensive in view of a steep fall in asset values in the West. But K-Dow was not the only large venture in trouble. The $18 bn Clean Fuels project, intended to modernise and upgrade Kuwait's three refineries - Mina al-Ahmedi (466,000 b/d), Mina Abdullah (270,500 b/d) and Shu'aiba (200,000 b/d) - was also making little progress.

The refineries are decades old and have suffered a series of fires. Shu'aiba, Kuwait's youngest refinery, was commissioned in 1968 and was due to be closed by 2010, but that was likely to be delayed. In 2008 there were at least two fires each at Mina Abdullah and Shu'aiba. Also suffering was the proposed 615,000 b/d ...