A few days ago, the governments of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Kuwait announced that the joint Wafra operations had made a new oil discovery in the “North Wafra Wara-Burgan” field, located 5 kilometers north of the Wafra field. Oil flowed from the “Warra” reservoir in the North Wafra (Warra Burgan-1) well at a rate exceeding (500) barrels per day, with a specific gravity of (26-27) API.

This is the first discovery since the resumption of production operations in the Divided Zone and the offshore area adjacent to the Divided Zone in mid-2020. The new discovery is considered of great importance, given its positive impact on the position and reliability of the two countries in supplying the world with energy, as well as their capabilities in the exploration and production sector, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

In December 2022, Aramco Gulf Operations Company and Kuwait Gulf Oil Company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop the Dorra gas field, a joint venture between the two countries. The MoU is an implementation of the Dorra offshore field development agreement signed in March 2022. Work on the Dorra field development project will resume immediately and work will be accelerated according to the program implementation plan and timetable approved by both countries.

It is worth noting that officials in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait affirm that ownership of the natural resources in the divided offshore zone, including the entire Dorra field, is jointly owned by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and that they alone have full sovereign rights to exploit the resources in that area. They therefore reject Iranian claims and actions regarding the Dorra offshore field. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia calls on Iran to begin negotiations to demarcate the eastern border of the submerged zone divided between the Kingdom and Kuwait, as a single negotiating party opposing the Iranian side, in accordance with the provisions of international law.

The development of the field comes in implementation of the provisions of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Kuwait in Kuwait City on December 24, 2019, which included joint work to develop and exploit the Dorra field. This field will provide both countries with approximately one billion cubic feet of gas, equally shared between the two brotherly Arab partners.