Kuwait’s claims that it enjoys "full rights" along with Saudi Arabia to Arash Gas Field in the Persian Gulf, aka al-Durra field, by the two Arab countries, are totally unfounded, a senior energy analyst said.
“The maritime boundaries of the hydrocarbon reserve are yet to be demarcated and lack of such a border area does not mean that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have exclusive rights to tap into the resource and deny Iran’s rights,” Seyyed Mehdi Hosseini was also quoted as saying by ILNA.
It is in the best interest of the three nations (Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia) to agree on a maritime border deal that stipulates the joint development of the offshore zone, he added.
Hosseini noted that the tiny Arab neighbor’s claims are groundless and the lack of a specified maritime boundary simply means than no country has the right to start drilling operations in the disputed area.
According to the official, the boundaries of Arash Gas Field should be clearly delineated without delay, as the longer it is postponed, the harder it will be to settle the disputes.
The National Iranian Oil Company firmly believes that joint oil and gas fields ought to be developed with the help of beneficiaries because this way, stronger ties could be established among nations and it is very unlikely that the field is damaged.
The dispute over the field dates back to the 1960s, when Iran and Kuwait awarded overlapping offshore concessions.
Last April, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to develop the field, despite objections from Iran that branded the deal "illegal".
Mohsen Khojastehmehr, managing director of NIOC, said last week that there is full preparation to start drilling in the joint Arash oilfield.
"Considerable resources have been allocated to the board of directors of NIOC for the implementation of the development plan for this field," he said.
Saudi Energy Minister Abdul Aziz bin Salman and his Kuwaiti counterpart Mohammed Abdul Latif al-Fars had signed a document on the development of the field last year.
The Kuwait Oil Company announced that the field is expected to produce 28 million cubic meters of natural gas per day and 84,000 bpd of gas condensates, which will be divided equally between the two partners.
Neutral Zone
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are developing the offshore gas field in the Partitioned Neutral Zone that Iran claims is in its waters.
Following the measure taken by the two Arab nations, Oil Minister Javad Owji said, “Although we are willing to hold talks and cooperate to develop the joint field, unilateral measures will not stop us from doing so.”
Discovered in 1962 in the Persian Gulf, the Arash field’s gas reserves have been estimated at 28 billion cubic meters, along with 310 million barrels of oil.
Iran began talks with Kuwait in 2000 to develop the field, but no agreement was reached.
In 2013, NIOC said it had jackets and rigs ready to develop the field and if talks did not lead to a development plan, it would have the right to go ahead alone.
Also reacting to the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, the Foreign Ministry’s Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh, said the Arash/al-Durra is a joint gas field belonging to Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, parts of which are located between Iran and Kuwait whose water boundaries have yet to be defined.
“Based on international regulations and procedures, any attempt to exploit and develop this field should be subject to coordination and cooperation among the three states. So the recent move by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, based on a cooperation document, is illegal and goes against the ongoing procedures and previous talks. Iran does not approve of it,” he said.
Bilateral Talks
The spokesman said Iran is ready to negotiate with the two Arab countries over the exploitation of the joint field, and to continue bilateral talks with Kuwait within the framework of the previous negotiations over the demarcation of the continental shelf.
“Iran also reserves the right to develop the gas field alone,” he added.
Commenting on the issue, Ahmad Asadzadeh, Iran’s deputy oil minister for international and commercial affairs, said Iran believes shared fields should be operated jointly, which would strengthen economic ties among the countries concerned.
“Even if the border is not demarcated, the field can be developed jointly using internationally tested models,” he added.
“Iran had delayed the shared field’s development in anticipation of a decision on the demarcation of the border with Kuwait. But as the other side, regardless of the previous talks, is unilaterally moving to develop the field, there is no reason for delay.”
Some 23 Iranian hydrocarbon fields lie in border areas and are shared between Iran and neighboring countries, such as Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan.
