Kuwait tightens security at oil installations

KUWAIT, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Kuwait plans to tighten security at its oil installations and is coordinating with U.S. authorities, the state news agency KUNA said on Monday. The chief executive of state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC), Saad al-Shuabi, told KUNA that Kuwait's oil installations were safe but the Gulf Arab state was "seeking to tighten security".

"The Americans are coordinating with Kuwait and we're working with them through several Kuwaiti agencies," he said.

Kuwait, which was the launchpad for the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, is home to thousands of U.S. troops.

Shuabi said the world's seventh-largest oil producer had worked out, two years ago, a security plan in the al-Shuaiba area where three oil refineries are located.

The head of KPC's refinery arm Kuwait National Petroleum Co. (KNPC), Sami al-Rushaid, said in May Kuwait was developing a "master plan" to enhance security measures.

A security source had said in April Kuwait bolstered security at "sensitive installations" after neighbouring Saudi Arabia said it had foiled an al Qaeda-linked plot that included plans to attack oil facilities.





source:Reuters