Energy consumption hike exceeds population growth in Kuwait: OAPEC

KUWAIT: The increase in energy consumption at a pace exceeding the population growth in Kuwait resulted in a hike in individual’s share of energy consumption from 52 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) in year 1995 to 58 BOE in 2018, Director of Economic Department at Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) Abdulfatah Dandi said yesterday. This came during a seminar held by Kuwaiti Ministry of Oil titled ‘Reality and future prospects of energy consumption and its future cost.’

The increase in energy consumption during the period between 1996-2018 exceeded the growth in gross domestic product (GDP) a matter that resulted in keeping the power density indicator at the limits of the global average, which is nine BOE barrels for each thousand dollars of the GDP, he said. One of the most important aspects of local energy consumption in Kuwait in the almost complete dependence on oil and natural gas in the mix of consumed energy, and the use of more than half of the used energy is consumed by the sector of electricity production and water desalination.

He praised the national efforts in the variation of energy sources by the use of solar and wind energy in Kuwait to produce 15 percent of the country’s need of energy by the year 2030. Governmental bodies in charge are working to develop a mix of sources of fossil and renewable fuels at sustainable level on order to maintain the country’s sources of oil and natural has for the future generations.