Kuwait is one of the world’s top exporters of oil, with about 2.4 million barrels per day exported in 2008. Kuwait's economy is heavily dependent on oil export revenues which account for roughly 90% of total export earnings. Kuwait channels around 10% of its oil revenues into the Future Generations Fund for the day when oil income runs out.

The Kuwaiti constitution forbids foreign ownership of Kuwait's mineral resources. The Kuwaiti Parliament passed the “Foreign Direct Investment Act” in 2001, aimed at promoting foreign investment in Kuwait’s oil and gas sectors, which facilitated some development in those sectors. However, major projects such as Project Kuwait remain at a standstill due to disagreements between Parliament and the ruling Al-Sabah family. According to Oil and Gas Journal, as of January 2010 Kuwait’s territorial boundaries contained an estimated 101.5 billion barrels (bbl) of proven oil reserves, roughly 8 percent of the world total. The Partitioned Neutral Zone (a.k.a. Divided Zone, Neutral Zone), which Kuwait shares 50-50 with Saudi Arabia, holds an additional 5 billion bbl of reserves, bringing Kuwait's total oil reserves to 104 billion bbl. See map below of major oil fields from Kuwait’s Ministry of Oil.

Most of Kuwait's oil reserves are located south of Kuwait City. The 70-billion bbl Greater Burgan area, which comprises the Burgan, Magwa and Ahmadi fields, is widely considered the world's second largest oil field, surpassed only by Saudi Arabia's Ghawar field. Producing oil since the 1950’s, Greater Burgan generally produces lighter crudes with API’s in the 28°-36° range, and has a production capacity of 1.6 million bbl/d. The South Magwa field (discovered in 1984) is estimated to hold at least 25 billion bbl of light crude.

Other fields surrounding the Greater Burgan area include Umm Gudair, Minagish, and Abdaliya. Umm Gudair and Minagish produce heavier crude oil, with gravities in the 22°-26° API range, and have a combined production capacity of 200,000 bbl per day. In January 2003, water injection began at Minagish to enhance oil recovery and offset natural declines in production.

Northern Kuwait holds the majority of Kuwait’s larger fields after Greater Burgan. Kuwait’s second largest field, Raudhatain, was discovered in 1955 by KOC, and has 9.55 billion bbl of proven and probable recoverable oil. Raudhatain has the capacity to produce 450,000 bbl of oil per day.