KUWAIT (Reuters) – Kuwait Oil Company said on Monday it had reached a preliminary deal with Exxon Mobil Corp to produce heavy oil and aimed to reach 900,000 barrels per day by 2020.

“This is a tight schedule but we will work hard to reach this goal,” said Khaled al-Sumaiti, deputy managing director of KOC’s northern oilfield operations.

Sumaiti said he expected the deal with Exxon to be finalised in July next year but negotiations were still ongoing.

State-owned KOC is in charge of oil exploration in Kuwait, a major OPEC oil exporter. The project with Exxon seeks to explore for heavy oil in the Lower Fars field of northern Kuwait.

Sumaiti said KOC aimed to be producing 50,000 bpd of heavy oil by 2011 and 250,000 bpd by 2015, but added that the plan faced several challenges, including a lack of skilled staff and a problem with mines that have littered the north since the conflict with Iraq.