Saudi Arabia and Kuwait reaffirmed that the ownership of the natural resources in the divided submerged area in the Arabian Gulf, including the entire Al-Durra field, was joint ownership between the two countries.
The two Gulf states renewed “their previous and repeated calls” to Iran to negotiate the eastern border of the submerged area divided between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as one negotiating party, and the Iranians as another party, in line with international law and the principles of good neighborliness, the Saudi Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Kuwait announced its readiness to take “any procedures or measures”, including negotiations to conclude international treaties and agreements, to guarantee the joint rights of the submerged Durra field, which contains huge amounts of gas.
Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Oil and Acting Minister of Finance Saad Al-Barrak said, in response to a parliamentary question on Thursday, that the Iranian claims regarding the Durra field “do not negate the validity of the facts on the ground, which confirm the joint ownership of the field by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.”
Al-Barrak confirmed that the Ministry of Oil was constantly coordinating and consulting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and providing it with all data and technical information in order to collect elements that would have an impact on Kuwait’s foreign policy with Iran regarding Al-Durra field.
“The offshore Durra gas field was discovered in 1967 and is located entirely in the submerged area divided between Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he said.
He added that in March 2022, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia concluded an agreement to develop the field through one company, with a capacity of one billion cubic feet and 84,000 barrels of condensate per day, based on the MoU signed between them on December 24, 2019.
Meanwhile, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al Sabah received a copy of the credentials of the new Iranian ambassador to Kuwait, Mohammad Totonchi, during a meeting that was held on Thursday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A statement said the officials discussed bilateral relations, revealing that the Kuwaiti minister received a letter from his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, which included a formal invitation to visit Iran.
