Kuwait Oil Company signs deals for restoring soil damaged during Iraq invasion
The projects, due to be completed in 2027-28, are among the largest ever in the field of soil remediation in the world, Kuwaiti minister says
18 October 2023 - 16:45
byAhmed Hagagy
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Kuwait — Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has signed contracts worth $1.73bn linked to rehabilitating the soil of oilfields damaged during Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, according to a document seen by Reuters.
The contracts are for “rehabilitation, treatment, drilling, transportation, and backfilling, covering all affected areas and areas to be rehabilitated within the oilfields”, oil minister Saad Al-Barrak said in response to a parliamentary query, according to the document dated October 4.
The document did not name the entities KOC signed the contracts with.
Iraq in February last year completed the payment of $52.4bn to compensate individuals, companies and governments who proved damages due to its 1990 invasion and occupation of Kuwait.
The UN Compensation Commission (UNCC), set up by the Security Council after the seven-month occupation of the emirate and US-led defeat of Saddam Hussein’s troops in the Gulf War, received a portion of the proceeds from Iraqi oil sales for the compensation.
About 78% of the total went to Kuwait, according to UNCC, including the largest of more than 1.5-million successful claims — $14.7bn in damages incurred by the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), KOC’s parent, after departing Iraqi troops set fire to oil wells.
Roughly $4.3bn of the total claims related to environmental remediation and restoration was awarded to the governments of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to UNCC.
The budget allocated by the UN to rehabilitate the Kuwaiti environment was about $3bn, Al-Barrak said in the document.
About $281m of the $1.73bn was disbursed through September 2023, he said. KOC will sign greening contracts to restore vegetation cover in 2024, he added.
The projects, due to be completed in 2027-28, are “one of the largest projects in the field of soil remediation in the world at the present time”, Al-Barrak said.
KOC began working on the projects in 2013 under UNCC’s Kuwait Environmental Remediation Program, he said.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Kuwait Oil Company signs deals for restoring soil damaged during Iraq invasion
The projects, due to be completed in 2027-28, are among the largest ever in the field of soil remediation in the world, Kuwaiti minister says
Kuwait — Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has signed contracts worth $1.73bn linked to rehabilitating the soil of oilfields damaged during Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990, according to a document seen by Reuters.
The contracts are for “rehabilitation, treatment, drilling, transportation, and backfilling, covering all affected areas and areas to be rehabilitated within the oilfields”, oil minister Saad Al-Barrak said in response to a parliamentary query, according to the document dated October 4.
The document did not name the entities KOC signed the contracts with.
Iraq in February last year completed the payment of $52.4bn to compensate individuals, companies and governments who proved damages due to its 1990 invasion and occupation of Kuwait.
The UN Compensation Commission (UNCC), set up by the Security Council after the seven-month occupation of the emirate and US-led defeat of Saddam Hussein’s troops in the Gulf War, received a portion of the proceeds from Iraqi oil sales for the compensation.
About 78% of the total went to Kuwait, according to UNCC, including the largest of more than 1.5-million successful claims — $14.7bn in damages incurred by the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), KOC’s parent, after departing Iraqi troops set fire to oil wells.
Roughly $4.3bn of the total claims related to environmental remediation and restoration was awarded to the governments of Iran, Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to UNCC.
The budget allocated by the UN to rehabilitate the Kuwaiti environment was about $3bn, Al-Barrak said in the document.
About $281m of the $1.73bn was disbursed through September 2023, he said. KOC will sign greening contracts to restore vegetation cover in 2024, he added.
The projects, due to be completed in 2027-28, are “one of the largest projects in the field of soil remediation in the world at the present time”, Al-Barrak said.
KOC began working on the projects in 2013 under UNCC’s Kuwait Environmental Remediation Program, he said.
Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Related Articles
Middle East tensions push oil near $100 a barrel
Oil slips on hopes of US easing Venezuela curbs
Global stocks steady as oil and gold climb
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.