DOHA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2020) Kuwait and Saudi Arabia on Sunday started a testing phase of oil production at the jointly operated oilfields in the Neutral Zone on the border between the two states, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Khaled Al-Fadhel told state-run KUNA news agency.
"Trial oil production at Wafra and Khafji fields began on Sunday and gradually the volume of production will be brought to natural. The volume of joint oil production in the area jointly operated with Saudi Arabia will return to its usual level of 550,000 barrels per day by the end of this year," Al-Fadhel said.
According to him, the level of production at Wafra field has already reached 140,000 barrels per day, and at Khafji field � 250,000 barrels per day, constituting Kuwait's share.
The minister assured that Kuwait adheres to the OPEC production target set for the country in the amount of 2.67 million barrels per day. However, according to the country's revised oil strategy, Kuwait aims to increase its oil production capacity to four million barrels per day by 2040, the minister noted.
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia struck a deal in December 2019 to resume production on shared oilfields after a spat around joint activities in the border area prompted the sides to halt output several years ago. The sides signed an agreement to demarcate land and maritime borders in the area, dubbed the Neutral Zone, as well as a memorandum of understanding to revive production on oilfields.
