Kuwaiti parliament debates foreign participation in petroleum sector

A number of members of the Kuwaiti Parliament confirmed yesterday their support for the government's efforts to expand the participation of foreign companies in investment in Kuwait's petroleum sector.

Kuwaiti Minister of Petroleum Sheikh Saud Nasser al-Sabah told the deputies that the new project the government intends to present doesn't breach the articles of the constitution that forbid foreigners from possessing Kuwait's petroleum reserves, foreign direct investment in natural resources or creating monopolies.

Moreover, the minister stated that the age of state domination has been ended, confirming that both Saudi Arabia and Iran have opened their petroleum sectors to foreigners.

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Petroleum has begun to present a law to the parliament which would allow foreign companies to invest in fields of petroleum, to which a number of parliament deputies have objected.