KISR, Japan body sign pact to improve crude oil quality

Move to help KOC, KNPC in future projects

KUWAIT CITY, May 24, (KUNA): The Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) and the Japan Cooperation Center, Petroleum (JCCP) on Monday signed an agreement to conduct joint research on improving the Kuwaiti heavy crude oil, with total costs of KD 611,000.

During the signing ceremony, KISR’s Director-General Dr Sameera Ahmad Al-Sayyed Omar said that the Japanese side would contribute KD 358,000 of the research budget, and KISR will provide the other KD 253,000.

The project will help the Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) and the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) to make the right decisions for investment in this technology going forward, and to obtain light industrial oils and high-value products, she said.

Omar pointed to the close cooperation between KISR and the JCCP in oil research and refining, dating back to 1993. The outcome has been 16 research projects.

In addition, they have held up to 24 joint conferences, seminars and workshops, besides training 30,000 researchers and engineers.

For his part, Special Advisor at JCCP Eiji Hiroka said that the JCCP, founded in November 1981, is a non-profit institution, supported by the Japanese government.

It works on promoting friendly relations between oil-producing countries and Japan and contribute to securing a stable supply of oil to Japan through technical cooperation and personnel exchanges in the downstream sectors of the oil industry, he added.

EIJI noted that cooperation of KOC and the KNPC in the project will make it more effective and applicable in the future.

Executive director of the Petroleum Research Center (PRC), affiliated to KISR, Dr Meena Marafi stressed the momentousness of bilateral cooperation in the vital field of oil production and refining.

She said that Japan has several similar projects in the Gulf region.