Kuwait and Iraq will appoint consultants soon to study the development of shared oil fields, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Bakhit al-Rashidi said in a speech on Wednesday.
Production from cross-border oilfields has long been a source of tension between the two OPEC nations.
In the build-up to Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Baghdad accused Kuwait of drilling wells that crossed the border and pumped oil from Iraqi territory. Kuwait denied the charge.
Kuwait and Iraq would pick a consultancy firm to advise on the project from a list of four candidates that the two states have already agreed on, the minister said during a visit to Al Doha East power plant, near the capital Kuwait City, giving no further details.
“The shared oil fields project aims at producing oil from border fields,” he said, adding that oil should be extracted by “one company and one team, production will be shared and the cost will be split between the two sides.”
According to Reuters, Rashidi said talks were underway to link the electricity grids of Iraq and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The power shortage in Iraq sparked protests in Basra and other Iraqi cities in July.
Kuwait donated 17 power generators last month to Iraq to alleviate the crisis, state-run Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.
“There will also be a project in the future for an electricity link between Iraq and Turkey, thus achieving a linkup between the GCC and Europe,” the minister said.
He also expected oil markets to "remain stable" until the end of the year.
A committee set up by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied non-OPEC exporters would review their crude output at a meeting in Algeria next month, the minister told reporters.
The committee that will meet on Sept.23, known as the JMCC, is chaired by Saudi Arabia and includes OPEC members Algeria, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela, as well as non-OPEC members Oman and Russia.
Iran asked to attend the meeting to defend its market share which could be impacted by US sanctions due to take effect on its oil industry in November.
