Kuwait: Arash Oil Field is a Three-Party Matter Between Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait
Days after Iran protested a new agreement between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait over the development of the shared Arash/Al-Durrah gas field, Kuwait announced that the development of this gas field concerns all three countries.
Shaikh Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s Foreign Minister, emphasized that the Arash gas field “is a three-party matter between Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iran”.
According to a statement from Kuwait’s National Oil Company, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signed a document on March 21 for the development of the Arash gas field, which is expected to produce one billion standard cubic feet of gas and 84,000 barrels of condensate per day.
In response, Said Khatibzadeh, spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, called the new agreement between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to develop the shared Arash/Al-Durrah gas field “illegal” and said Iran’s right to exploit this field remains protected.
He had emphasized that based on previous negotiations, any action in the exploitation and development of this field must be carried out with the coordination and cooperation of all three countries.
However, the position of Kuwait’s Foreign Minister is being published simultaneously with the statement that Iran’s Oil Minister claimed in a tweet that Iran “will soon begin drilling operations in this field”.
Javad Oji, the Oil Minister, also wrote: “Comprehensive studies of the shared Arash field have been completed with the drilling of an exploratory well and the conducting of seismic surveys.”
The Kuwaiti minister made no reference to this statement.
The Arash/Al-Durrah gas field is a shared field among Iran, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, with portions of it located within the undefined maritime boundary between Iran and Kuwait.
Previously, Kuwait’s National Oil Company and Saudi Aramco established the “KGO” consortium in 2015 with the aim of developing the Arash field, and they had even begun drilling an exploratory well in September of that year for the development of this shared field.
Source: Radio Farda
