KUWAIT CITY, May 14 : Kuwait accomplished significant economic and environmental benefits since the establishment and full operation of liquefied gas import facilities in Mina Al-Zour, Chief of Public Relations and Media at the Ministry of Oil Sheikha Tamadhur Khaled Al- Ahmad Al-Sabah stated. Sheikha Tamadhur said this on Tuesday during a discussion panel organized by the department in cooperation with Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) on liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry; its developments, challenges and horizons. Economic benefits of LNG import facilities include saving up significant sums of money due to fuel consumption in electric power plants, while environmental benefits lie in limiting carbon emissions, and bettering air quality as LNG is considered an ecofriendly energy source, explained Al-Sabah. Liquefied gas project is sufficient for Kuwait’s current and future demand of clean energy, affirmed Al-Sabah adding that the projects provide fuel to electric power plants specially within peak summer times. Mina Al-Zour import facility is considered largest in the world in storage capacity, as it is comprised of eight storages, each with a capacity of 225,000 cubic meters. As for OAPEC’s gas industry expert, Wael Abdulmuti, he explained that the process is done over four; extradition, liquefying, transportation and re-gasification.

The liquefying stage is considered of the highest expense taking up around 50 percent of total cost, mentioned Abdulmuti. Gas transportation fleet includes some 730 vessels transporting liquefied gas from 21 exporting countries, the large fleet appealed to newer markets, illustrated the gas expert. Arab states make up around 28 percent of total liquefied gas exports, with more than 112 million tons for the year 2023. Several factors contributed to supporting LNG trade, expounded Abdulmuti, including desire to diversify resources and revenues, environmental dimensions and seasonality of demand in some markets. Mina Al-Zour, operational since 2021 is of a unique status in the region, remarked Abdulmuti adding that it had enabled Kuwait to diversify its gas supply sources (KUNA)