Oil production resumes in the joint fields of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia plan to produce oil from the oil fields in the region Khafji and Wafra. The expiry of the two countries’ additional Opec Plus production cuts at the end of June allows for this. However, neither field is likely to reach capacity any time soon.

Abdullah al-Shammari, a senior Kuwaiti oil company official who operates the Khafji oil field, stated that the production should reach 100,000 barrels per day in a month from the oil field. At the end of this year, some forecast that the output from the Khafji oil field will reach 175,000 barrels per day.

According to Al-Shammari, production from the Wafra oil field would begin on July 1 and was expected to initially reach 10,000 barrels per day and then reach 70,000 barrels per day by the end of August. 

Khafji and Wafra oil fields are located in the neutral zone on the border between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The two companies had made preparations for the start of production. 

Both fields have been offline since the middle of 2015 because of an operational conflict. 

Last year, Saudi Arabia Chevron and Kuwait Gulf Oil(KGOC), which jointly operate the Wafra field, reached a resolution. The two countries agreed on restarting production. They started testing output in February. 

According to Saudi Arabia Chevron, the company continues to prepare its operations at Wafra to restart output.

The closure of the fields of Khafji and Wafra in the Neutral Zone was a political sticking point between the two allies. Senior officials had been attempting to solve the issue for months.

The production in the Neutral Zone dates back to the 1920s when countries made treaties and established regional borders. Since then, they have equally divided the zone between the two countries.