Saudi Arabia & Kuwait to raise oil output in Neutral Zone

Since restarting operations in 2020 after a long break amid operational quarrels, both fields, better known as offshore Khafij and onshore Wafra, have slowly scaled up production in the 2,230 square mile area between the borders of the two nations.

Before the four-year pause, the two fields were operating below capacity at an accumulated 450,000 to 460,000 barrels per day.

Currently, production of both fields combined stands below the pre-shutdown levels at 300,000 to 320,000 bpd.

The slow pace of lifting output is mainly due to technical issues that stem from the prior shutdown, as well as the global pandemic restrictions and the 9.7m bpd production cut applied by OPEC and its non-Opec partners in response to the health crisis.

However, as OPEC+ will unwind what remains of the initial cut by the end of the year, the two Gulf countries are targeting extra Neutral Zone volumes.

Under the terms of the coordination, the Kingdom and Kuwait can raise oil output in the Neutral Zone by another 200,000 to 300,000 bpd within months, hitting a record capacity of 550,000 bpd, according to Argus Media.

Projections by Kuwait based oil firm KOC signal that the capacity of the oil fields can be further pushed to 700,000 bpd by 2025.