Kuwait Oil Company declares ‘state of emergency’ after oil spill

Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), a subsidiary of the state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, declared a “state of emergency” after an oil spill on land in the west of the country on Monday, according to the state news agency, KUNA.

Qusai-al-Amer, KOC’s deputy CEO of administrative affairs and the official spokesman said the leakage had caused injuries to some of the company’s employees.

The company said a state of emergency has been declared but no leakage of poisonous gas was detected at the site of the oil spill. Al-Amer said teams have been dispatched to determine the source of the leak and contain the incident but declined to give the spill’s exact location.

The Kuwaiti oil company previously reported oil leaks in its fields in 2016 and 2020. Kuwaiti daily newspaper,  Al Rai, released a video on Twitter showing a pipe spewing large amounts of oil onto. However, Gulf Business has not independently verified the footage.

#نفط_الكويت: الفرق المعنية في الشركة تتعامل مع حادث التسرب النفطي حسب الإجراءات المتبعة.. وسنعلن عن التطورات أولاً بأولhttps://t.co/SysaMDvMGf pic.twitter.com/03fd9rtofZ

— الراي (@AlraiMediaGroup) March 20, 2023

Kuwait is a major oil-producing country where nearly 90 per cent of government revenues come from oil. The country is a member within the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and currently produces around 2.7 million barrels per day.