About one-sixth of Kuwait oil and gas production is consumed in the domestic market. According to estimates by KNPC, which produces and markets the refined products, half of the domestic consumption goes to power plants and seawater desalination units, while the rest is consumed mainly by the oil industry itself, followed by the transport sector. Only a small proportion is consumed by households. Figure 1-23 (right) shows the Kuwait's daily consumption of crude oil and oil products in thousands of equivalent barrels of crude in the period 1994-2016. The decline in oil consumption since 2009 was due, among other factors, to the shift toward the use of more natural gas in power stations and petrochemical industries. Finally, due to low natural gas production relative to consumption requirements, Kuwait has been a net importer of natural gas since 2009. In 2016, Kuwait's total imports of natural gas reached about 152.3 billion cubic feet, nearly 417 million cubic feet per day. (KNPC data). Gro Ku mil whi exc feet Fig 201 pla spe boc cap per bill alle yea cur pro Regarding natural gas, Kuwait had an estimated 1.8 trillion cubic meters of proven natural gas reserves as of 2015. Kuwait's reserves are not considered significant relative to global reserves and this has spurred an extensive drive in natural gas exploration. The utilization of the discovery of large non-associated gas reserves, which was discovered in the northern area of the country had been delayed by parliamentary opposition since 2006. However, in September 2016, Kuwait awarded contracts to international companies to enable the start-up of production of gas from these reserves by 2018. Yet, the $3.6 billion second phase plan of the project is on hold after tenders were unexpectedly cancelled in late 2017.