Saudi Arabia and Kuwait signed an agreement to resume pumping at two major oilfields in a shared neutral zone on Tuesday.
Kuwait’s Oil Minister Khaled Al-Fadhel said on Twitter that the memorandum of understanding signed with Saudi Arabia included “the resumption of production in the divided zone.”
The state-run KUNA news agency reported that the two countries also signed an agreement on the demarcation of land and maritime borders in the neutral zone.
The oil produced in the neutral zone in the border area is shared equally between the two nations.
Khafji, an offshore field, was jointly operated by Kuwait Gulf Oil Co. (KGOC) and Saudi Aramco Gulf Operations, while the onshore Wafra field was operated by KGOC and Saudi Arabian Chevron.
Tuesday’s agreement comes as oil prices are under pressure due to abundant reserves and weak global economic growth.
The deal could take as much as a year to bring the field back to full capacity. The fields can produce 0.5 million bpd or 0.5 percent of global supply.
Continued soft pricing has prompted the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies to make deeper production cuts starting next month.
Saudi Arabia pumps just under 10 million barrels per day (bpd), while Kuwait produces around 2.7 million bpd.
