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| Arabia |
| Kuwaitis go exploring for oil/NG near Iran |
| 2006-01-03 |
| KUWAIT: Kuwait plans to start exploration for natural gas in what it calls "undisputed" parts of the offshore Dorra field also claimed by neighboring Iran, a senior official said in comments published Monday. "Talks with Iran are continuing over the continental shelf. But, we have decided to ... start exploration in the undisputed part," Energy Ministry under secretary Issa al-Oun told Al-Siyassah daily. The exploration will be carried out in coordination with Saudi Arabia, with whom Kuwait signed an agreement in 2000 to divide oil wealth in the offshore fields. Oun said Kuwait will soon invite bids for seismic surveys of part of the Dorra field and other Kuwaiti offshore fields. He said he did not expect Iran to object to the measure because "exploration will take place in the undisputed parts of the field." Iran and Kuwait have been negotiating for several years to demarcate their common maritime borders in what is known as the continental shelf which includes the gas-rich Dorra field. Although progress has been achieved, no final deal has been reached between the two Gulf neighbors. The dispute goes back to the 1960s when Iran and Kuwait awarded offshore concessions to the former Anglo-Iranian Petroleum Co., now part of BP, and Royal Dutch/Shell that overlapped in the northern part of the Dorra field. Recoverable gas reserves from Dorra are estimated at some 200 billion cubic meters, with potential daily output of between 17 million and 43 million cubic meters. Kuwait is rich in oil but badly needs the Dorra field because it lacks sufficient supplies of natural gas. In March, the two countries signed a $7 billion 25-year deal under which Iran will supply some nine million cubic meters of natural gas a day to the emirate. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 Hmmm...would this come under the heading of "potential provocation"? Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2006-01-03 07:32 |
| #1 So now CHAD vs SUDAN, EITREA vs ETHIOPIA on the Arabian-Persian Gulf side of the Red Sea-Arabian Sea trade routes. The Left > All these Islamist attacks and troubles ergo its the USA, and only the USA [and Dubya], thats waging "War for Oil", not and never Radical Islam/Spetzlamists!? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-01-03 03:57 |