Iran and Kuwait have had fruitless talks over their disputed maritime border area for years.
Riyadh:
Saudi Arabia has said it enjoys “full rights” with Kuwait to a disputed gas field in the resource-rich Gulf, and opposes claims from Iran, state media reported late Tuesday.
The field, known as Arash in Iran and Dorra in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, is “jointly owned by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Kuwait, and they alone have full rights,” the official Saudi news agency reported, citing a source from the State Department.
The Saudi statement came a day after Kuwait again invited Iran to join talks over its maritime borders.
The dispute over the field – whose recoverable reserves are estimated to be some 220 billion cubic meters (seven trillion cubic feet) – dates back to the 1960s, when Iran and Kuwait awarded overlapping offshore concessions.
Last year, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to develop the field, despite objections from Iran that labeled the deal “illegal”.
Mohsen Khojsteh Mehr, general manager of the National Iranian Oil Company, said last week that “there are full preparations to start drilling in the joint Arash oil field”.
“Significant resources have been allocated to the board of directors of the National Iranian Oil Company for the implementation of the development plan for this field,” he said in remarks from Iranian state media.
Iran and Kuwait have had fruitless talks for years over their disputed maritime border region, which is rich in natural gas.
Saudi Arabia is also part of the dispute, as it shares Kuwait’s maritime gas and oil resources in the area.
Iranian drilling in the field in 2001 spurred Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to agree on a maritime border agreement stipulating that they would jointly develop the offshore zone.
In March, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced a surprise Chinese-brokered rapprochement, agreeing to restore ties after a seven-year rift, raising hopes of eased tensions between Middle East heavyweights.
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