Kuwait's Supreme Petroleum Council (SPC), the country's highest oil policy body, has proposed merging state oil firms into one entity, a newspaper reported on Thursday.

At present, Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) is the umbrella firm for a number of units handling different parts of the industry in the Opec member -- the world's fourth largest oil exporter.

'Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) will study a proposal by the SPC to merge its (KPC's) 10 subsidiaries under one huge company called Kuwait Petroleum Company,' local daily Al-Anbaa said citing oil sources.   

The new firm will include the four sectors of exploration, refineries, joint services, and transportation and marketing, the paper said. The proposal could take between three and five years to be executed, it said. - Reuters