2023-07-04 21:22:56
On Tuesday, the Saudi Press Agency quoted a source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying that the ownership of the natural resources in the “divided submerged area”, including the entire Durra field, is joint ownership between the Kingdom and the State of Kuwait only.
The agency added that Saudi Arabia “renews its previous calls for the Iranian side to start negotiations to demarcate the eastern border of the submerged area divided between the Kingdom and Kuwait as one negotiating party once morest the Iranian side, in accordance with the provisions of international law.”
On Monday, Kuwait, in turn, renewed its call on Iran to resume talks on demarcating maritime borders, following Tehran announced its readiness to start exploration in a disputed gas field in the Gulf waters rich in natural resources.
Kuwait insists that it has “exclusive rights” to the offshore field with Saudi Arabia, and the two countries agreed to develop it jointly last year.
The field, known in Iran as “Arsh” and in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as “Al-Durra”, Tehran says is located within its exclusive economic zone, in a dispute that began several decades ago.
The Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that “Kuwait and Saudi Arabia alone have exclusive rights to the natural wealth in the Al-Durra field.”
The statement quoted an official source in the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying, “The State of Kuwait renews its call to the Iranian side to start negotiations on the demarcation of the maritime borders between the Kuwaiti and Saudi sides as one negotiating party in exchange for the Iranian side.”
Last year, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to develop the field, despite objections from Tehran, which described the deal as “illegal”.
Last week, the executive director of the National Iranian Oil Company, Mohsen Khajesteh Mehr, said, “We are completely ready to start drilling operations in the Arash field,” according to what was reported by Iran’s Fars news agency.
He continued, “We have approved large financial resources to develop this field in the board of directors of the National Oil Company, and we will start work as soon as the conditions are ready.”
The remarks by the CEO of the National Iranian Oil Company came at a time when Riyadh and Tehran have strengthened their cooperation in the wake of a surprising decision to resume relations announced in March, following relations had remained severed between the two rival regional powers for seven years.
Kuwaiti Oil Minister Saad Al-Barrak said he was “surprised” by the Iranian intentions, which he said “contradict the most basic rules of international relations,” according to what was quoted by the Kuwait News Agency, “KUNA.”
Al-Barrak said, “We totally reject the Iranian allegations and measures to be taken around the Dorra field.”
The dispute over the Dorra field dates back to the sixties of the last century, when Iran granted a maritime concession to the Anglo-Iranian oil company, which later became “BP”, while Kuwait granted the concession to “Royal Dutch Shell”.
The two concessions overlap in the northern part of the field, whose reserves are estimated at 220 billion cubic meters.
Iran and Kuwait have held talks over their maritime borders rich in natural gas for years, but they have all failed.
Saudi Arabia is part of the conflict, given that it shares offshore gas and oil resources with Kuwait in the region.
Iran’s exploration in the field in 2001 prompted Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to conclude an agreement on maritime borders, which stipulated that they jointly develop the area off their coasts.
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