Oil production from the Partitioned Zone shared by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, shut in since 2015, will resume “soon,” according to the Kuwaiti oil minister (OGJ Online, Mar. 30, 2017).
“Matters with brothers in Saudi Arabia are going at a steady pace, and we expect the return of production in the divided region soon,” said Bakheet Al-Rashidi, who also is minister of electricity and water, according to the official Kuwait News Agency.
Partitioned Zone fields, offshore Khafji and onshore Wafra, have combined production capacity of 500,000 b/d. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait share the output.
Because of disputes never publicly clarified, Khafji production was suspended in 2014 and Wafra production the following year.
Partitioned Zone operations are managed by Al Khafji Joint Operations, owned jointly by national oil company subsidiaries Kuwait Gulf Oil Co. and Aramco Gulf Operations.
The production suspension also halted assessment of the commercial potential of thermal recovery of Wafra heavy oil. A 49-well pilot steamflood began in Wafra field in 2009 (OGJ Online, May 29, 2012).
