BLOOMBERG - Kuwait Petroleum Corp. signed a 15-year liquefied natural gas import deal with Royal Dutch Shell Plc to help the oil exporting nation meet growing domestic energy demand.

Kuwait's budget deficit reflects the impact lower oil prices have had on crude exporters, particularly Gulf Arab monarchies that rely on oil revenues to support generous subsidies, welfare benefits and public sector wages.

Thousands of workers in six oil and petrochemical companies went on strike Sunday to protest proposed government cutbacks.

Production at Khafji was halted in October 2014 because of environmental concerns. The 300,000-b/d field lies in the Saudi-Kuwaiti neutral zone. Kuwait Gulf Oil Co. and Saudi Aramco Gulf Operations Co. jointly operate it. Neither company commented on restart reports.

The framework agreement includes opportunities for joint investment in future oil and gas exploration, and possible oil and gas trading deals, including LNG.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin met with Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah this week to discuss opportunities for cooperation in the fields of energy and diplomacy. The two countries also signed a memorandum for military technical cooperation.

Chevron Corp. is planning to lay off up to 1,000 employees working in the neutral zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, as a dispute between those countries has halted all work on oil fields for several months, according to people familiar with the matter.

Kuwait’s government on Sunday announced plans to spend $155bn on projects over the next five years despite the current slump of oil prices

Two of OPEC’s biggest members say they won’t immediately reduce oil production to offset tumbling prices, a signal the group is unlikely to heed Venezuelan calls for an emergency meeting.

Kuwait Petroleum International has cancelled a planned $1.4 billion investment in its 88,000 barrel per day (bpd) Rotterdam refinery and may sell it, a spokesman said, as Europe's refiners struggle with overcapacity and global competition.