Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 21 /Trend S.Isayev, A. Tagiyeva/
Kuwait has reached its maximum potential in oil exports, CEO and deputy chairman of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation Farouk Al-Zanki said in an interview with Al Arabiya.
"For now, our potential has been fully reached," Al-Zanki said. "As opposed to Saudi Arabia, which said it can, if necessary, increases its oil exports, we unfortunately cannot."
He added that following the sanctions imposed on Iran by the EU, Kuwait has yet to receive any requests for increasing their oil exports.
The sanctions imposed on Iran have caused the oil prices at world markets go up, and the price on Kuwaiti crude is not an exception. It increased cents to USD 118.27 per barrel yesterday, the state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said on Tuesday.
Oil prices continue to rise due to a number of factors. They are mainly driven by the geopolitical events seen in the Middle East region and the tension surrounding Iran's nuclear program. Oil prices are also going up because Greece's sovereign debt is coming to an end by implementing an EU bailout plan.
OPEC member Kuwait was forecast Sunday to post its largest revenues and budget surplus ever this current fiscal year on the back of high oil prices and production, a local economic report said.
Revenues of the oil-rich Gulf state in the 2011/2012 fiscal year, which ends March 31, are expected to top $100 billion for the first time, ending between $101 billion and $104 billion, the National Bank of Kuwait (NBK) said.
Oil income is forecast to contribute around 95 percent of the revenues, according to NBK which said the average price for Kuwaiti oil will be about $109 a barrel way above the budget price of $60 a barrel.
Kuwait, which ended the past 12 fiscal years in surplus amassing over $200 billion, will also post a record windfall topping $41 billion at the end of 2011/2012 year, NBK said.
Kuwait's previous record revenues reached last fiscal year $79 billion, while its largest budget surplus was $33.5 billion in the 2007/2008 fiscal year. The emirate has been pumping around 3.0 million barrels per day, even when its OPEC output quota was just 2.2 million bpd.
Based on official figures, the Gulf state posted revenues of $77 billion in the first three quarters of the fiscal year, up a massive 41.7 percent a year ago, with almost all the increase coming from oil. As the income rose sharply, spending also increased at a fast pace, tripling in the past six years to around $70 billion.
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