Kuwait signs $3 billion deal to buy gas from BP

Kuwait signed a five-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply deal with BP worth an estimated $3 billion, as it seeks to meet rising energy demand to power air conditioning during the scorching Gulf summers.

Kuwait, a major OPEC oil producer, agreed a $12 billion LNG supply deal over six years with Royal Dutch Shell and will also import gas from fellow Gulf state Qatar.

The BP deal, signed by state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC), will help Kuwait run its power plants through the hottest time of the year.

The LNG from the three companies will come in 32 shipments per year, each one comprising 80,000 tonnes, Mudhaf said. Shell will send 18 shipments, Qatargas will send eight and BP will send six, he added.

Kuwait began importing LNG, natural gas frozen to a liquid for transport on tankers, in 2009. Over the previous four years it has signed deals with Shell and Swiss-based trader Vitol to supply it during the peak power demand period from April to October.