On the ground at Ahmadi, where Kuwait’s oil industry began, there is a permanent exhibition run by Kuwait Oil Company. Visiting it is not like visiting an ordinary gallery: you do not wander alone, you join a tour led by a guide.
The tour
Tours set off every half hour, Sunday to Thursday, between eight in the morning and four in the afternoon. They are free of charge throughout, for individuals and groups alike.
The guide speaks Arabic or English, and the choice is the visitor’s.
The tour runs about an hour and a half to two hours, all of it on foot and all of it inside the building. The facilities are set up for wheelchair users throughout.
Nine halls
The route is nine halls, opening with the “entrance experience” and closing at “your future”. Between them are halls on how oil and gas form, on how Kuwait’s oil traps came about, and a display on the early oil days alongside a timeline of the company’s milestones. The displays are interactive.
Before you go
Booking ahead is strongly advised, and it is done by filling in a form on the exhibition’s site after verifying your email address.
Parking is free, for cars and for buses. The exhibition has a gift shop with souvenirs, stationery and a section for children.
The address: 212 Ahmadi. Email: ajoge@kockw.com.
The name
The exhibition is named after Sheikh Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, Kuwait’s tenth ruler, who reigned from 1921 to 1950 — the reign in which the country’s oil industry began.
Photo: an oil pump jack. By Ken Eckert, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Source: Kuwait Oil Company, the official site of the Ahmad Al Jaber Oil and Gas Exhibition, the about and “plan your visit” pages. The government “Visit Kuwait” site gives the hours as eight in the morning to five in the evening.
Kuwait One, once a week.
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