Private company

Kuwait National Petroleum Company

Logo: KNPC, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons3

State-owned oil refining company

The Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) (Arabic: شركة البترول الوطنية الكويتية) is the national oil refining company of Kuwait. Established in October 1960, KNPC has the mandate for oil refining, gas liquefaction, and distribution of petroleum goods within the local market. KNPC also handles CFP (Clean Fuel project).2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

1960Founded1

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Knpc headoffice kwt
Photo: Noblevmy at ml.wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

The Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) (Arabic: شركة البترول الوطنية الكويتية) is the national oil refining company of Kuwait. Established in October 1960, KNPC has the mandate for oil refining, gas liquefaction, and distribution of petroleum goods within the local market. KNPC also handles CFP (Clean Fuel project).2

Corporate structure

Kuwait National Petroleum Company is part of a group headed by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. 18 entities, 7 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Founded by Kuwait in 1960.1

Established in October 1960 as a share-holding company owned by the Kuwait government and private sector, KNPC became fully government-owned in 1975. Since 1968 the company had been exporting petroleum products from its Shuaiba Refinery. In April 2017, Kuwait closed the Shuaiba refinery, which was one of the oldest oil facilities in the region. In 1980, following the restructuring of the oil sector in Kuwait, KNPC was placed under the newly created Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), which was also government owned. In this revised structure, KNPC took control of distributing petroleum products within Kuwait, along with the ownership of the Mina Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries. On 20 March 2026, Iran sent drones that attacked and damaged units in the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, as part of the 2026 Iran war.

From Wikipedia’s article on Kuwait National Petroleum Company, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Acquisitions

In April 2025, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) has announced the merger of The Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) with the Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company (KIPIC).

From Wikipedia’s article on Kuwait National Petroleum Company, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Timeline

  1. 1960Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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