Bloomberg reported that Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company will drill for crude and natural gas in Vietnam and look for shale gas JV in the US.

Mr Ali al Shammari deputy chairman of the Kuwait City based explorer known as Kufpec said that the company has had three blocks in Vietnam since 2009 and will start drilling the first exploration wells there next year. The company is also looking for opportunities in North and South America along with Europe as it plans to boost the number of fields it operates outside Kuwait.

Mr Shammari said that Kufpec seeks to produce 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent from abroad by 2020. Most of this addition will come from new joint ventures.

He said that Australia is a major focus for now for Kufpec. The company owns 35% in a bloc in the West Area of Australia’s North shelf where it produces natural gas from two fields along with its partner Apache Corporation which owns the rest of the block.

(Sourced from Bloomberg)