A tanker removing industrial waste from the remote Wafra area, which stopped pumping oil in 2014 due to a dispute between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Gustavo Ferrari / The National.
A tanker removing industrial waste from the remote Wafra area, which stopped pumping oil in 2014 due to a dispute between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Gustavo Ferrari / The National.
A tanker removing industrial waste from the remote Wafra area, which stopped pumping oil in 2014 due to a dispute between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Gustavo Ferrari / The National.
A tanker removing industrial waste from the remote Wafra area, which stopped pumping oil in 2014 due to a dispute between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Gustavo Ferrari / The National.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait restart production from the Neutral Zone


Jennifer Gnana
  • English
  • Arabic

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have resumed oil production from shared oil fields located along their Neutral Zone after operations in the territory were halted five years ago.

Production from the Wafra and Khafji fields began on July 1, the Kuwaiti oil ministry said in a tweet on Monday.

Earlier this year the ministry announced it was re-starting production from the fields after reaching a deal with its neighbour.

The onshore Wafra field will initially produce 10,000 barrels per day before reaching 70,000 bpd by the end of August.

The field is expected to reach 145,000 bpd output by year-end, according to earlier comments made to Reuters by a senior management official at Kuwait Gulf Oil Company, which operates the field.

Production from the offshore Khafji oil field, which was halted for a month is expected to be producing at the rate of 80,000 bpd from July 1, before reaching 100,000 bpd after two months. The field is expected to maintain production of 175,000 bpd by year-end.

Both Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are currently cutting back output as part of the Opec+ agreement, which looks to restrict around 9.7 million bpd of production from the markets until July. The start-up of production from the shared oil fields provides additional spare capacity to the producers, in the event of a shortage.

Spare capacity refers to the volume of output that can be brought online within 30 days and sustained for a minimum of 90 days, according to the US Energy Information Administration. The world's spare capacity remains tight, hovering around 3.21m bpd in 2019, according to International Energy Agency, with 2.27m bpd in Saudi Arabia alone.

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Keep it fun and engaging

Stuart Ritchie, director of wealth advice at AES International, says children cannot learn something overnight, so it helps to have a fun routine that keeps them engaged and interested.

“I explain to my daughter that the money I draw from an ATM or the money on my bank card doesn’t just magically appear – it’s money I have earned from my job. I show her how this works by giving her little chores around the house so she can earn pocket money,” says Mr Ritchie.

His daughter is allowed to spend half of her pocket money, while the other half goes into a bank account. When this money hits a certain milestone, Mr Ritchie rewards his daughter with a small lump sum.

He also recommends books that teach the importance of money management for children, such as The Squirrel Manifesto by Ric Edelman and Jean Edelman.

Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut

Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”

Real estate tokenisation project

Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus 

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani

Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Salem Rashid, Mohammed Al Attas, Alhassan Saleh

Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Yahya Nader, Ahmed Barman, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah, Yahya Al Ghassani

Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri

What are the influencer academy modules?
  1. Mastery of audio-visual content creation. 
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The biog

DOB: 25/12/92
Marital status: Single
Education: Post-graduate diploma in UAE Diplomacy and External Affairs at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi
Hobbies: I love fencing, I used to fence at the MK Fencing Academy but I want to start again. I also love reading and writing
Lifelong goal: My dream is to be a state minister

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Hili 2: Unesco World Heritage site

The site is part of the Hili archaeological park in Al Ain. Excavations there have proved the existence of the earliest known agricultural communities in modern-day UAE. Some date to the Bronze Age but Hili 2 is an Iron Age site. The Iron Age witnessed the development of the falaj, a network of channels that funnelled water from natural springs in the area. Wells allowed settlements to be established, but falaj meant they could grow and thrive. Unesco, the UN's cultural body, awarded Al Ain's sites - including Hili 2 - world heritage status in 2011. Now the most recent dig at the site has revealed even more about the skilled people that lived and worked there.