A global shortage of skilled petroleum specialists may beset Kuwait's ambitious plan to nearly double its oil production even as Western oil majors prepare to submit bids for the project, according to a Chevron executive.

The controversial $8.5 billion plan known as Project Kuwait - the biggest energy plan in Kuwait in decades -  aims to boost oil-producing capacity from four northern fields.  
But the government has mandated that the winning consortium double production from those fields in just four years and the energy industry faces a dearth of well-qualified petroleum engineers and geologists to do the work. 
"It'll be a challenge in that we have this government imposed timeline," Hani Iskander, who oversees Chevron's (CVX) operations in Kuwait, said, " while also fulfilling all the other requirements of the agreement.
"Something that all the (oil) majors face today, not just Chevron, is a shortage of skilled labour," he said.
California-based Chevron, leading a consortium that includes France's Total  (TOT), Petro-Canada (PCZ), Russia's Sibneft and China's Sinopec Corp (SNP), hopes to prevail in a competition for the long-delayed and controversial plan known as Project Kuwait.
Kuwait wants to increase production from the northern fields to about 900,000 barrels a day, a key step towards the government goal of raising Kuwait's total production capacity from 2.7 million barrels a day currently to four million barrels a day by 2020.
Parliament is scheduled on January 16 for a full debate on the project, first proposed in the late 1990s, and could vote on each of the nearly 30 clauses of draft legislation on January 23.
Approval would then allow tenders to be put out to Western oil companies.
But the government also wants Kuwaiti nationals to comprise 70 per cent of the winning consortium's workforce in the first year of work, and for that proportion to increase by 1 per cent a year to 90 per cent after 10 years.
This is referred to as Kuwaitisation, a policy similar to others imposed by a number of Middle East countries, like Saudi Arabia, on foreign companies as one of the costs of doing business.
Iskander said Chevron employs mostly nationals in many of the countries in which it operates, including Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Angola, and is confident it would meet the Kuwaiti hiring-requirement through its own training programme.
"I believe we will meet the 70 per cent target," said Iskander.
Government officials and energy analysts say it is important Kuwaiti nationals feel they have a big stake in a process that would see its national oil treasures explored and mostly exported by Western oil companies.
"It's important for Kuwaitis to see (the winning consortium) as one of their companies," said Iskander.
Some analysts also say the Kuwaiti hiring policy under the project is a touch unfair because the state-run energy firm Kuwait Oil Corporation currently employs only about 65 per cent of Kuwaiti nationals as part of its total workforce.
That is well-below the 80 per cent requirement that the winning consortium is required to meet after 10 years of operations under draft legislation.
BP and ExxonMobil are also spearheading consortiums hoping to get a slice of Project Kuwait.
The project has gained more parliamentary support in past months after last year's decision to draw-up technical field service contracts. This was done to dispel fears that hydrocarbons gleaned under Project Kuwait might come under foreign ownership and violate the constitution.
Several lawmakers in the 50-member parliament insist final passage of the plan will be incomplete until the legislature is given more powers to vet contracts and more anti-corruption measures are added to the legislation.
Hasan Johar, a Kuwaiti lawmaker, estimated the government needs 17 more legislators in the 50-member parliament to get majority approval of the legislation and said getting those votes will require giving parliament more oversight.
"I am in favor of this (Project Kuwait), but it's crucial that parliament has more powers to examine the contracts the government signs with Western oil companies," Johar said.
Kuwait has earmarked more than $44 billion over the next 15 years to upgrade its oil industry and boost output.
"Total estimated investments in the oil sector from 2005 to 2020 will exceed $44 billion. We aim to modernise the sector and boost output to four million bpd," energy ministry undersecretary Issa Al Oun said.
The money will be spent on mega projects such as a large refinery and upstream projects to raise output, in addition to a number of large petrochemicals plants, he said.
Kuwait sits atop 10 per cent of the world's proven reserves of around 100 billion barrels, has the fifth largest Opec quota at 2.227 million.
Boosting production capacity from the current 2.7 million bpd to four million bpd by 2020 will cost the Opec member an estimated $20 billion on projects including upgrading production facilities, pipelines, gathering centers, booster stations and export terminals.
This year, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC), which operates upstream activities in the Gulf emirate, awarded three major contracts worth $3.3 billion to two South Korean companies and a British-based firm.
It ordered a $1.25-billion oil terminal from Hyundai Heavy Industries with oil storage tanks and offshore pipelines for Al Ahmadi Port, Kuwait's main oil export terminal.
KOC also signed a $1.2-billion contract with South Korea's SK Engineering for 10 oil gathering centers and a gas booster station.
British-based oil services firm Petrofac won a $680-million contract to install hundreds of kilometres of pipelines above the ground to replace old underground pipelines in addition to $125-million maintenance deals.
All these projects are due to be completed in 2008.
And despite controversy, the emirate also appears to be forging ahead with Project Kuwait.
The project, if approved, would be the largest foreign investment in the country's upstream oil resources since nationalisation of the sector in the 1970s.
A number of projects are also in the pipeline to raise production at oilfields in south and southeast Kuwait, Oun said.
Almost two-thirds of Kuwait output at present comes from Greater Burgan oilfield, the world's second largest after Saudi Ghawar, and the new projects aim at easing pressure on it.
State-owned Kuwait Oil Tanker Company this year signed contracts to build seven oil tankers of different sizes to modernise its fleet at cost of more than $600 million.
The emirate is planning to build a new refinery with a capacity of up to 600,000 bpd at a cost of $6.3 billion. It is scheduled to be onstream in 2010.
An opportunity for foreign investment in Kuwait's downstream is expected in February when Kuwait Petroleum Company invites bids to help build the refinery.
Kuwait also plans to upgrade two of three existing refineries at a cost of between three to $4 billion. The third refinery at Shuaiba will be closed down when the projects are completed in 2011.
That will boost Kuwait's refinery capacity from 920,000 bpd now to 1.2 million bpd.
A number of giant petrochemicals plants, at an estimated cost of around $10 billion, are under establishment with the help of foreign companies, led by the US Dow Chemical, Oun said.