In 1934, the Kuwait Oil Company Limited was established by the Anglo-Persian Company, which was a joint venture between the British Petroleum Company, now known as British Petroleum (BP) and Gulf Oil Corporation, now known as Chevron Corporation. Since its inception, the Company’s activities included exploration operations, onshore and offshore surveys, drilling of test wells, and the development of producing fields as well as crude and natural gas exploration.

In 1938, oil was discovered in commercial quantities in the Burgan field that allowed commercial production. Several years later, specifically in June 1946, the late Amir of Kuwait, His Highness Sheikh Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, inaugurated the export of Kuwait’s first shipment of crude oil. Soon after, new fields were developed, export facilities expanded, and the North and South Piers and the Artificial Island were built.

In 1975, KOC witnessed a significant transformation, as it was nationalized and became 100 percent owned by the Kuwaiti government. In 1980, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation was established and all state-owned oil companies became its subsidiaries.

In 2005, an important achievement was accomplished, as premium light crude oil was discovered in Sabriya field. The discovery of API 52 crude oil, according to the American Petroleum Institute specifications, was a quantum leap for the exploration capabilities of KOC.

A year later, i.e. 2006, the Company achieved another accomplishment when gas was discovered in the deep Jurassic reservoirs in Rahiyah, Mutriba, Umm Niga, and other fields across Kuwait, thus fulfilling one of Kuwait’s long-standing dreams of becoming self-sufficient in gas, which could be used to generate energy.

Finally, in 2018, His Highness the late Amir, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, turned a symbolic silver wheel to trigger the export of the first shipment of high-quality light oil, which marks the continuation of KOC’S great successes.

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