Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) CEO Shaikh Nawaf Al Sabah confirmed on 30 July that the firm had drilled its first offshore well since the 1980s, with the Nukhedha-1 well spudding late last year. Haliburton is conducting a delayed six-well program under a 2019 deal (MEES, 19 July 2019) using the Oriental Phoenix jackup rig of China’s COSL, which has been in Kuwaiti waters since mid-2022 (MEES, 24 June 2022).
Meanwhile, tensions remain high over the offshore Dorra gas field located in the Kuwaiti portion of the Partitioned Neutral Zone (PNZ) shared with Saudi Arabia. The two neighbors plan to drill at Dorra, but Iran claims the field extends into its waters – where it is called Arash. Iran objects to the Saudi/Kuwait plans and in turn says it plans to drill Arash, which the other two have objected to. Central to the dispute is that the Iran-Kuwait border remains un-demarcated (MEES, 7 July). Kuwait’s foreign ministry on 3 August renewed calls for tripartite negotiations but Iran says any talks should be bilateral between Kuwait and Iran. (CONTINUED - 170 WORDS)