Kuwait resumed oil exports and production operations Saturday following an emergency industry shutdown Friday due to a massive sandstorm that blanketed the region.

Kuwait Petroleum Corp subsidiary Kuwait Oil Co resumed production operations and exports, Sheikh Talal al-Khaled al-Sabah said in a statement to the official news agency KUNA. He is also a KPC spokesman and managing director of government, parliamentary relations, public Relations and media.

Oil industry seaport operations also began receiving tanker traffic once again, he said.

KPC subsidiary and state refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Co also resumed major pre-scheduled maintenance operations at two of its refineries, Sheikh Talal noted.

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Plans for supplying consumers with crude or oil products, domestic and international, were not affected by the shutdown, he said.

A thick sandstorm blanketed the emirate Friday evening, accompanied by heavy winds out of the northwest. Visibility was reduced to 20 feet in some areas during the early evening. Motorists were advised by state television to stay off the roads. Kuwait's international airport halted all incoming and outbound flights temporarily, and commercial seaports were closed until visibility returned.

Sheikh Talal told KUNA that the oil sector undertook the shutdown as a safety precaution.

Kuwait currently produces around 2.3 million b/d of crude and has a capacity output of around 3 million b/d.

--Miriam Amie, newsdesk@platts.com