Saudi Arabia has stated that it and Kuwait have “full rights” to a disputed gas field in the resource-rich Gulf, contradicting Iran’s claims, according to official television late Tuesday.
The field, known as Arash in Iran and Dorra in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, is under “joint ownership between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Kuwait, and they alone have full rights,” according to a foreign ministry source, according to the official Saudi Press Agency.
The Saudi announcement came just one day after Kuwait welcomed Iran back to negotiations on their marine borders.
The conflict over the field, which has estimated recoverable reserves of 220 billion cubic metres (seven trillion cubic feet), dates back to the 1960s, when Iran and Kuwait issued overlapping offshore concessions.
Despite opposition from Iran, who called the arrangement “illegal,” Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to develop the field last year.
Last week, Mohsen Khojsteh Mehr, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company, stated that “full preparations are being made to begin drilling in the joint Arash oil field.”
“Considerable 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 carried by Iranian state media.
For many years, Iran and Kuwait have undertaken failed talks over their disputed maritime border area, which is rich in natural gas.
Saudi Arabia is also involved in the dispute because it shares maritime gas and oil resources in the area with Kuwait.
The drilling of the field by Iran in 2001 prompted Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to sign a maritime border agreement requiring them to jointly develop the offshore zone.
Saudi Arabia and Iran struck a stunning rapprochement deal in March, agreeing to resume ties after a seven-year schism, sparking hopes for lower tensions between the Middle East powers.
