Kuwait lifts force majeure, targets 2M barrels per day within a week

Kuwait has begun ramping up oil production and expects to reach 2 million barrels per day within a week, as the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz under an interim U.S.-Iran peace deal allows the Gulf state to restart exports crippled by more than three months of war.

Kuwait Petroleum Corp. CEO Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah told Bloomberg that the country has completed enough repairs to its damaged energy infrastructure to restore output to pre-war levels faster than previously anticipated. All force majeure notices issued during the conflict will be lifted "with immediate effect," he said.Anadolu Ajansı+1

A Faster Recovery Than Expected

The announcement marks a dramatic shift from earlier forecasts. Just two weeks ago, a KPC executive said at an industry conference that it would take six to eight weeks after the strait reopened to bring back 70% of production, with the remaining 30% requiring about another month. Kuwait's output had fallen to roughly 500,000 barrels per day during the war — its lowest level since Iraq's invasion in 1990 — after Iranian strikes damaged oil fields and the Hormuz blockade cut off export routes.GuruFocus+3

Before the conflict erupted in late February, Kuwait was producing approximately 2.6 million barrels per day, making it the fifth-largest OPEC producer. The country declared force majeure on crude and refined product deliveries in early March and extended the declaration in April as the strait remained closed.First-Class Business Newspaper Financial News+3

The Road Back to Full Capacity

The interim peace deal, signed by President Trump and Iranian officials on June 15, extends the ceasefire for 60 days and reopens the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping. The agreement has already sent oil prices lower as markets anticipate the return of millions of barrels of Gulf supply.dw+2

Kuwait's target of 2 million barrels per day within a week would represent about 77% of pre-war output — a pace that outstrips the timeline KPC officials laid out in early June. The country's full pre-war capacity of roughly 2.6 million barrels per day is expected to take additional weeks to restore, with refinery output projected to normalize in two to three weeks.Sahm

Kuwait is not alone in racing to restart. According to Reuters, Middle East producers including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates also shut down millions of barrels per day during the conflict and face their own multi-month recovery timelines.reuters