Oil fields on Saudi-Kuwait border resume pumping
Wafra and Khafji fields were at centre of a long-simmering dispute between Gulf states
Kuwait City: Crude oil production resumed early July at the Wafra oilfield, shared by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, after a five-year halt, the Kuwaiti oil ministry said on Twitter. The Wafra and Khafji oilfields are located in the Neutral Zone on the boundary of the two countries.
Saudi Arabian Chevron (SAC), which jointly operates the Wafra field with Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC), said in a statement in June that the two companies were making preparations to resume operations.
Initial output at the Wafra oilfield is seen at 10,000 bpd, before rising to 70,000 bpd at the end of August, and then up to 145,000 bpd by the end of 2020, Abdullah al-Shammari, deputy chief executive for finance and management at Kuwait Gulf Oil Company, which operates the field, told Reuters in June.
Production also resumed on Monday at another shared field, Khafji, on July 1, after a one-month halt, the Kuwaiti oil ministry said. Output from Khafji oilfield, which was halted for a month, is expected to be about 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) on July 1, before rising to 100,000 bpd two month later, Al-Shammari said.
Production is expected to reach 175,000 bpd from Khafji field by end of the year.