KUWAIT, April 20 (KUNA) -- The gas that Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is importing to supply the Ministry of Electricity is totally different than the gas used by petrochemical companies, including Equate, KPC chief said Tuesday.
"Gas imported by KPC and then pump it to the Ministry of Electricity is of the slim type and is of high price, however the petrochemical sector is supplied with another type of gas which is the ethylene-rich gas and they are totally different types," KPC CEO Saad Al-Shuwayyeb told reporters on sidelines of Kuwait's Transparency Forum, dubbed "Transparency in Oil Industries." Petrochemical companies are not being supplied with so-called slim gas because it is being imported for specific purposes, he said, primarily generation of electricity.
KPC conducted a thorough study which emphasized that power generation required large quantity of high-price oil products. This study, said Al-Shuwayyeb, concluded that importing slim gas would save money for KPC and public funds.
The KPC chief made the statement after some local newspapers quoted what they called "sources" as saying KPC was importing gas with much higher prices than the gas being supplied to petrochemical firms. This means, claimed the sources, KPC was losing.

Al-Shuwayyeb said Kuwait's best alternative was to import gas through pipelines.
This, he added, is still pending providing negotiations with regional countries were still ogoing.
"KPC had to live up to its responsibilities and supply gas to the Ministry of Electricity through importing it from outside so the ministry will not stop from doing its job," he said.
Al-Shuwayyeb said KPC was selling gas to petrochemical companies with either equal or higher prices than the regional ones.
He, meanwhile, affirmed that KPC was determined to increase Kuwait's oil production to four million barrels per day (bpd) by the year 2020.
On the accidents in the oil sector, Al-Shuwayyeb said Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has been replacing all pipes for three years now in order to boost their efficiency. - Kuna