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Kuwaiti-Saudi neural zone aims to produce 175,000 bbl/d by end 2020

According to the Kuwait Gulf Oil Company, oil production at the joint Kuwait-Saudi al-Khafji oilfield is increasing faster than expected, raising production targets. Trial production started in early March 2020 (10,000 bb/d) and currently averages 70,000 bbl/d. The production is now expected to surpass 100,000 bbl/d in by the end of April, and 175,000 bb/d by the end of 2020. 

In 2019, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to end a 5-year dispute over shared resources, allowing a restart of production at the Khafji and Wafra fields, which was suspended in May 2015. The agreement will also allow Kuwait to develop its share of the Dorra gas field. In February 2020, production from the neutral zone was projected to reach 80,000 bbl/d by September 2020 and 145,000 bbl/d by early 2021. With Saudi Arabia's decision to raise its oil production to record high in April 2020 and to boost its production capacities, oil production from Khafji and Wafra is now expected to reach 320,000 bbl/d by the end of 2020 and to reach its full production capacity of 550,000 bbl/d before the end of 2021.

The Khafji oil field is operated by Al-Khafji Joint Operations, a joint-venture (JV) of Kuwait Gulf Oil Company and AGOC (Saudi Aramco), while the Wafra field is operated by Chevron on behalf of the Saudi government.