Kuwait announced on Monday that significant natural gas and light crude oil fields have been discovered in northern Kuwait.

The reserves at the discovered free gas fields in Sabriya and Umm Niqa areas were estimated at one trillion cubic meters, Kuwaiti Energy Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah said.

Sheikh Ahmad said the initial studies proved that 60 to 70 percent of the discovered volume could be utilized, the Kuwait News Agency reported.

Sheikh Ahmad also said that some 10 to 13 billion barrels of light crude reserves have been discovered in the same areas.

With the discovery of free gas, Kuwait can sharply reduce its dependence on imports from the other Gulf states for generating electricity, the minister added.

The initial stages of the actual gas production would start at the end of 2007 after completing the needed surface installations, the state-owned Kuwait Oil Company said.

Kuwait has long been a major crude producer with some 10 percent of the world's proven reserves and output of around 2.6 million barrels per day.

Source: Xinhua