The issue could delay approval for the emirate's budget.
"The issue is still under study. There will be discussions between the finance minister and parliament on it," Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Faisal Al Hajji said in parliament.
The scale of reserves in the country remains sensitive since industry newsletter Petroleum Intelligence Weekly (PIW) said in January last year it had seen internal records showing reserves were about 48 billion barrels - half the officially stated 99bn.
The difference is equal to over four percent of global proved oil reserves, according to data in BP's annual statistical review.
Legislators threatened not to pass this year's budget if reserves are not disclosed, a local newspaper reported on Monday.
Kuwait's budget was scheduled for approval in parliament by the end of its final session tomorrow before a summer break.
"We cannot make the correct future plans without knowing the size of the reserves... so this should be made clear to parliamentarians before the session to pass the state budget," legislator Ahmad Lari said.
MP Daifallah Buramya said he would not support approval of the state's budget if the reserves size is not disclosed.
An official source as saying the government is prepared to disclose the reserves size in a closed-door session but will require time to do so since it has to collect data.
Qurain Petrochem shares quadruple in market debut
Shares in Kuwait's Qurain Petrochemicals almost quadrupled in their market debut yesterday, after an initial public offering which ranked as the Gulf state's biggest-ever share issue.
Qurain had sold 990 million shares at 100fils each for 99m dinars ($343m) as long ago as 2004.
More than 34m shares worth 12.9m dinars changed hands, higher than the 8.7m dinars of trade in Kuwait's biggest stock, Mobile Telecommuni-cations Company (MTC).
"The company is worth the price we are seeing. It is making good profit and it has a valuable stake in Equate," said Waleed Al Braikan, senior portfolio manager at Gulf Investment.
Equate Petrochemical is a multi-billion-dollar joint venture between Qurain's parent company Petroleum Industries Company and Dow Chemical. Qurain has used the proceeds from its IPO to invest in petrochemical firms such as Equate.
Qurain's float ended a near drought on the Kuwaiti stock market in which mostly smaller companies have made their debuts in the past few years - in contrast to other Gulf bourses such as Dubai or Riyadh, which have seen big deals such as Saudi Kayan Petroche-mical's $1.80bn IPO.
Qurain General Manager Walid Al Asfur said the company wanted to grow through acquisitions and by buying into companies and projects in the Gulf, North America, North Africa and Asia.
He said Qurain planned to invest in existing companies or projects rather than setting up new ventures as it aimed at seeing profits from the start.
Via: Gulf Daily News
