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Iran: Saudi-Kuwaiti deal to develop Arash gas field in Persian Gulf 'illegal'

Iran says it reserves the right for drilling in Arash gas field in the Persian Gulf, warning that an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to produce gas at the shared field is illegal.

"The Arash/al-Durra gas field is a joint field between Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Parts of it are located in areas between Iran and Kuwait whose water boundaries have not been defined,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Saturday.

"According to international regulations and procedures, any measure to operate and develop this field must be done through coordination and cooperation among the three countries. Therefore, the recent move by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in the framework of a cooperation document is contrary to current procedures and previous negotiations, and is illegal. It has no effect on the legal status of the field and is not approved by the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

In a statement released on Monday, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said the country’s energy minister had signed a document with his Saudi counterpart to develop the gas field.

The Arash field is expected to produce 1 billion standard cubic feet per day of gas and 84,000 barrels per day of condensates.

“As it has stated many times, the Islamic Republic is ready to enter negotiations with neighboring countries, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, on how to exploit the joint field. At the same time, it is ready to continue bilateral talks with Kuwait within the framework of previous discussions on delimiting the continental shelf and start trilateral talks on defining a triple point," Khatibzadeh added.

“The Islamic Republic also reserves the right to tap the Arash/al-Durra gas field.”


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