Saudi Arabia and Kuwait invited Iran on Wednesday to hold negotiations to determine the eastern limit of a joint, energy-rich, offshore area, according to a report in Reuters, which cited the Saudi state-news agency SPA.
The Dorra field sits off the coast between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. However, it is the farthest offshore of the proven fields in the Arabian Gulf, a graphic from AGISW shows.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Kuwait have agreed, under the Memorandum of Understanding signed in Kuwait City [in December 2019] to expedite the development and exploitation of the Dorra field. On [March 21], His Royal Highness the Minister of Energy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and His Excellency the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Oil and Minister of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy of the State of Kuwait agreed in the Meeting Minutes that they signed to begin to work on exploiting the Dorra field, located in the Submerged Divided Zone. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Kuwait affirm their right to exploit the natural resources in this area and that they will continue working to enforce what was agreed upon under the Meeting Minutes signed on [March 21],” the SPA said.
“In this regard, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Kuwait had previously invited the Islamic Republic of Iran to negotiate the delimitation of the eastern boundary of the Submerged Divided Zone but these calls were not met. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Kuwait, as a single negotiating party, renew their invitation to the Islamic Republic of Iran to hold these negotiations.”
According to Reuters, Iran says it has a stake in the field and considers a Saudi-Kuwaiti agreement signed last month to develop it “illegal.”
