Kuwait Overhauls the KPC Law and Bans Local Agents on Its Contracts: Decree-Law No. 67 of 2026

On 28 June 2026, Kuwait's Official Gazette (Kuwait Al-Youm), Issue 1797, published Decree-Law No. 67 of 2026, amending Decree-Law No. 6 of 1980 establishing the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), as amended by Law No. 54 of 1982. It replaces the texts of Articles 1, 3, 5, 12, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18 and 22, and took effect on publication.

The most consequential change is a new Article 18, which prohibits the use of a local agent or a commission agent to contract with KPC or its wholly-owned companies, in any form whatsoever, at both the conclusion and the performance of the contract. Suppliers and intermediaries that have relied on local-agent or success-fee arrangements to win KPC-group work can no longer do so lawfully. The explanatory memorandum frames the change as a cost measure, intended to remove from KPC and its wholly-owned companies the financial burden of a mandatory intermediary.

The ban accompanies a wider grant of commercial autonomy. Article 1 restates KPC as a public institution of an economic nature managed on commercial bases under the Minister of Oil. Article 5 confirms powers to incorporate wholly-owned joint-stock companies, restructure and merge subsidiaries, borrow and issue bonds in local and foreign markets, with financing subject to Supreme Petroleum Council approval. Article 22 removes KPC from the prior-control regimes of the Audit Bureau (Law 30/1964), Law 66/1998 and the Financial Controllers Authority (Law 23/2015).

On governance, Article 14 lets the Board, chaired by the Minister of Oil, set the rules for tendering and awarding the contracts of KPC and its wholly-owned subsidiaries that fall outside Public Tenders Law No. 49 of 2016, while Article 13 introduces a Chief Executive Officer, appointed by decree for a renewable four-year term, as Vice Chairman. Article 16 reserves strategy, capital changes and budget approval to the Supreme Petroleum Council.

WEFAQ's view: vendors and agents should review every KPC-facing engagement against Article 18 now, because a prohibited arrangement is exposed to being void; KPC-group counterparties and their lenders should confirm which approvals now sit with the Board and which remain with the Supreme Petroleum Council.

Source: Decree-Law No. 67 of 2026, Official Gazette (Kuwait Al-Youm) Issue 1797, dated 28 June 2026.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice specific to your circumstances, please contact WEFAQ Law Firm.