In Aramco's footsteps

Kuwait's government wants to follow Saudi Arabia's and sell off some state energy assets. The move will face opposition

Weak oil prices and the loss of 250,000 barrels a day of production from the Neutral Zone have prompted the Kuwaiti authorities to consider partly privatising bits of its energy sector. Neutral Zone output, shared with Saudi Arabia, stopped in May 2015 because of a dispute between Kuwait and the kingdom. No final decision has been taken on privatisation, and any move will probably meet objections from Kuwaiti parliamentarians and the media. The idea of selling off subsidiaries of the state energy company, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), was first mooted in early July by Khalifa Hamada, undersecretary at the finance minister, on the basis that "oil prices have dropped and indicators show