Kuwait decided to cut oil production in light of Iran's attacks and the potential closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said in a statement on the 7th (local time) that it would cut crude output and refining throughput as a precaution "in response to Iran's continued attacks on Kuwait and threats to ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz," according to AFP and Bloomberg.
KPC said the move is part of its crisis-management and business-continuity strategy, adding it is "fully prepared to restore production levels if conditions allow, depending on how the situation develops." However, it did not disclose the size of the cuts. As of January this year, Kuwait's crude production was about 2.6 million barrels a day, and its refining capacity was 800,000 barrels a day.
Kuwait sits inside the Gulf (the Persian Gulf), so most of its crude and petroleum product exports must pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Unlike Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which can export via overland pipelines, Kuwait is vulnerable to a strait closure.
Across the Gulf, Iran's attacks have caused repeated disruptions to energy facilities. In Dohuk province in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, crude production of about 30,000 barrels a day at the Sarsang oil field, operated by U.S. company HKN Energy, was halted after a drone strike. Saudi Arabia also temporarily suspended operations after a drone attack on the Ras Tanura complex, home to national oil company Aramco's largest refining facility.
Qatar, the world's No. 2 producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), likewise invoked force majeure and halted supplies after its largest LNG production facility was hit by an Iranian drone attack. Some expect it will take at least a month for Qatar's LNG production to return to normal.