A nationwide power failure brought Kuwait's entire refining sector to a standstill on 31 October 2004, idling the three facilities that together produce up to 920,000 barrels of oil per day.
The cutoff began at 1300 local time after a transformer undergoing scheduled maintenance failed, triggering a cascade that knocked out four of Kuwait's five major power and water desalination plants. It was the first total blackout the country had experienced in more than 13 years.
The refineries at Al-Ahmadi, Mina Abdullah, and Shuaiba, all in the oil-rich south, were wound down progressively with no fires or incidents reported. Kuwait National Petroleum Co. said the plants would need at least 24 hours after power was restored before resuming output.
Interior Ministry spokesman Major Waleed al-Ghanim dismissed any suggestion of foul play: "The blackout was the result of a technical breakdown." The energy ministry launched an investigation, and undersecretary Saud al-Zaid reported that two of the affected plants had already come back online, with power returning to residential areas.
Traffic signals failed across Kuwait City, producing gridlock, though no serious accidents were recorded. The national grid carries more than 9,000 megawatts per hour of capacity, with summer consumption exceeding 7,000 megawatts as temperatures reach 50 degrees Celsius.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in October 2004, in its own words.