New talks between the Foreign Ministers of Kuwait and Iran regarding tensions over maritime borders in the Gulf
Kuwait's Foreign Minister, Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah, met with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) inter-ministerial meeting held in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 3 July 2023.
During the talks, Tehran and Kuwait affirmed the importance of strengthening cooperation to maintain the security, safety and stability of the region, stressing the need to preserve dialogue between them, notes Asharq news. Indeed, relations between the two states have been fragile ever since Iran hinted that it was ready to start drilling for a disputed gas field in the Persian Gulf: the Durra field, or Arash for Iranians.
Since its discovery in the mid-1960s, this field has been part of the Partitioned Neutral Zone (PNZ) established by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, covering the onshore and offshore border area, in which all hydrocarbon deposits would be jointly exploited by their national oil companies. The Durra field remains undeveloped today, although Riyadh and Kuwait attempted to negotiate a plan to develop its gas fields throughout the 2000s. Negotiations broke down in 2013 due to disagreements over pipeline routes and the sharing of gas production.
According to a report by the Middle East Institute, Kuwait's rejection of the initial plan and the suspension of oil production from the PNZ fields in 2014-2015 seem to indicate a lack of trust between the two countries. Despite the resumption of production from the fields at the end of 2019 and the desire to develop a relationship based on trust, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia do not share the same operational philosophy, suggesting the real possibility of a deadlock in the future.
Where does Iran fit into this dispute? While the maritime boundaries have been defined between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the eastern boundary of the area, delimiting Kuwait and Iran and Saudi Arabia and Iran, has not been agreed. In addition, the boundaries of the Durra gas field have not yet been delimited and could possibly extend eastwards. If so, it would extend into Iranian maritime waters, leaving Iran free to claim part of the gas field.
Last year, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to develop the field, despite Tehran's objections, which described the deal as "illegal". Kuwait also stressed that the Durra field is a natural resource shared between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and that no other party has any rights to it until the demarcation of maritime borders is resolved.
Meanwhile, the eighth conference of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) began on Wednesday in Vienna, where Kuwaiti Oil Minister Saad al-Barrak claimed that Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had an agreement to develop the Durra field. He told Asharq News that borders must be demarcated, while urging Iran to enter "into the demarcation of international borders, and after that, whoever has a right will get it according to the rules of international law". Al-Barrak also categorically rejected "Iran's planned activities around the premises of the Durra offshore gas field".
Iran and Kuwait have a history of unsuccessful talks over their disputed maritime border zone, which is rich in natural gas. To this day, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have renewed their calls on Tehran to begin negotiations to delineate the eastern border. Iran has yet to respond to these calls.
