Kuwait Energy Outlook

The Kuwait Energy Outlook, produced by the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) in collaboration with the GSSCPD and UNDP, provides a comprehensive analysis of Kuwait's energy supply and demand trends. It presents a 'Business-as-Usual' (BAU) projection to 2035, highlighting the country's heavy reliance on hydrocarbons, the challenges of under-developed gas reserves, and the slow adoption of renewable energy. The report emphasizes the need for institutional coordination, pricing reform, and improved data collection to transition toward a more sustainable energy future.

• Kuwait's economy is highly dependent on oil, with the sector accounting for approximately 90% of export revenues and net oil-export revenues representing about 40% of GDP as of 2017.
• Under the Business-as-Usual (BAU) case, crude oil production is projected to reach 3.5 million barrels per day by 2035, supported by plans to increase capacity to 4 mb/d within the next decade.
• Kuwait is a net importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) due to underdeveloped gas reserves, although natural gas production is projected to grow from 17.4 billion cubic meters in 2017 to 27.3 bcm in 2035.
• The share of oil in total primary energy demand is expected to decline to 42% by 2035 as the government switches to natural gas and solar for power generation, while the share of natural gas is projected to rise to 55%.
• Electricity generation capacity is projected to increase by 70% from 2018 levels, reaching 32 GW by 2035, with combined-cycle plants forming the majority of expansions.
• Renewable energy currently satisfies less than 1% of energy demand; while capacity is expected to reach 5 GW by 2035 (16% of total generation capacity), it will only account for 3% of total primary energy demand in the BAU case.
• Kuwait's water production is dominated by multi-stage flash (MSF) technology, but its share is expected to drop from 84% to 39% by 2035, with multi-effect desalination (MED) increasing to nearly half of production.
• The transport sector is a major driver of emissions and energy demand, with oil demand growing by 3% per year in the BAU case; greenhouse-gas emissions from transport are projected to nearly double from 12.5 Mt CO2-eq in 2015 to 22.9 Mt CO2-eq in 2035.
• Total greenhouse-gas emissions are projected to increase from 83 million tonnes of CO2-equivalent in 2015 to 103.4 Mt in 2035, with per capita emissions remaining among the highest globally at approximately 20 tonnes by 2035.
• Energy subsidies are high, estimated at nearly 8% of GDP in 2016, which encourages overconsumption and a misallocation of resources.
• The report identifies a critical lack of reliable energy statistics and coordination between institutions as primary barriers to the deployment of renewable energy and effective policy analysis.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (n.d.). Kuwait Energy Outlook. https://leap.sei.org/documents/keo2019/KEO_report_English.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Kuwait Energy Outlook. n.d. https://leap.sei.org/documents/keo2019/KEO_report_English.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Kuwait Energy Outlook |url=https://leap.sei.org/documents/keo2019/KEO_report_English.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitutendkuwait, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Kuwait Energy Outlook}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://leap.sei.org/documents/keo2019/KEO_report_English.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }