Saudi Arabia and Kuwait agree to develop the Joint Durra gas field

Shafaq News/ Riyadh and Kuwait signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop the Durra gas field.

According to the Saudi state news agency (SPA), the understanding between Aramco Gulf Operations Company and Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC) aims to produce one billion cubic feet of gas and 84,000 barrels of liquefied gas per day.

According to SPA, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and Kuwaiti Oil Minister Badr Hamed Al Mulla attended a signing ceremony in Kuwait City.

Earlier, Iran criticized the deal, saying the document signed between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait was "illegal" since Tehran also has a share in the field and must be included in any action to operate and develop the field.

The Dorra Gas Field, located in shallow waters offshore in the northern Arabian Gulf, lies at the junction of competing territorial claims by Kuwait, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.

The Dorra Field was discovered in the mid-1960s when maritime boundaries were poorly defined, and gas was not considered a strategic asset. Kuwait and Iran awarded overlapping offshore concessions due to the undefined marine boundary. At the same time, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia developed a neutral zone, known as the Partitioned Neutral Zone (PNZ), covering the on- and offshore border area, wherein all hydrocarbon fields would be developed jointly by their national oil companies. Seeking to develop resources, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait agreed on the delineation of the PNZ and the joint operations within it. As the significant oil-producing countries focused on developing reserves in the undisputed territory, Dorra, also known as the Arash Field by the Iranians, lay undeveloped. The offshore sector of the PNZ holds the giant Khafji Oil Field and the undeveloped Dorra Gas Field.