Kuwait Says Oil Production Recovery To Take 10-12 Weeks After Hormuz Reopens

Kuwait Petroleum Company has stated that it will take over 10 to 12 weeks to restore oil production to pre-war levels, even if an agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz is reached in the coming days.

Kuwait’s estimate is one of the first indicators of what post-Hormuz recovery may look like after months of outages.

While most stakeholders discuss whether the waterway will reopen soon, not many have paid attention to how quickly oil producers can restore output to normal levels.

Many refineries in the region suffered from missile and drone attacks, and some had to shut down production as storage tanks filled to the brim, as vessels were stuck in Hormuz, unable to enter or exit after Iran closed the waterway in response to U.S and Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic from February 28, 2026, onwards.

Restarting production would involve stabilising wells, gathering systems, storage facilities, export terminals and logistics chains.

Kuwait Petroleum Company’s managing director for international marketing, Shaikh Khaled Ahmad Al-Sabah, said Kuwait would require 6 to 8 weeks to recover 70% of usual production levels after Hormuz reopens, and the other 30% would take another month.

The statement came as U.S President Donald Trump assured that negotiations with Iran were going in the right direction and Hormuz could reopen in the coming week.

However, not many are convinced, given U.S attacks on Iranian facilities and ships and Iranian strikes on U.S military facilities in the region, especially in Bahrain, which is the headquarters of the U.S Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

Freight markets, insurance costs and routing are unlikely to normalise in a few days even if the Strait opens to commercial ships.

The recovery period announced by Kuwait Petroleum Company came hours before Iran attacked the Kuwait International Airport, killing an Indian national and damaging Terminal One.