TEHRAN- Arash gas field, located in the north of the Persian Gulf, in the neutral zone between Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, holds an estimated 20 trillion cubic meters of in-situ gas and 310 million barrels of in-situ oil.

The field, which is called Al-Durra by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, was discovered in 1967, and has become a subject of dispute between the three countries in order to determine their shares.

Of course, this conflict has started several decades ago, but the issue has been making headlines over the last few days, with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia saying Iran has no share in the Al-Durra gas field, which is known as Arash in Iran. 

On July 2, Kuwait presented its request to Iran to resume negotiations on demarcating maritime boundaries, claiming that it has exclusive maritime rights with Saudi Arabia, and the two countries agreed to jointly develop the field in 2022.

“The State of Kuwait and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia alone have exclusive rights to the natural wealth in the Al-Durra field,” a Kuwaiti foreign ministry statement said.

“The State of Kuwait renews its invitation to the Iranian side to start negotiations on the demarcation of the maritime borders,” it added.

A day after the Kuwaiti statement, the Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry said that the Arab kingdom has full rights along with Kuwait to the gas field.

Riyadh claimed that only Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have the right to exploit the natural resources of the disputed field.

The Saudi official emphasized that Saudi Arabia once again wants Iran to start negotiations regarding the drawing of the eastern borders of the blue zone that is divided between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.

This Saudi claim was made after Tehran announced its readiness to start exploration in the field rich in natural resources of the Persian Gulf.

Iran calls Kuwait-Saudi Arabia agreement to develop Arash “illegal”

Last year, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to develop the field, despite objections from Tehran which branded the deal as “illegal”.

At the time, Tehran said that the agreement between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to develop the gas field was illegal, adding that Iran also has a share in the field and must be party to any such development.

Iran has claimed it owns rights to part of the field, and said to proceed with the development of what it considers its own sector.

On June 27, Mohsen Khojasteh-Mehr, managing director of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), said: “There is full preparation to start drilling in the joint Arash oil field.

“Considerable resources have been allocated to the implementation of the development plan for this field”, the official announced.

Many unsuccessful talks

The row over the field stretches back to the 1960s, when Iran and Kuwait each awarded an offshore concession, one to the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, the forerunner to BP, and one to Royal Dutch Shell.

The two concessions overlapped in the northern part of the field, whose recoverable reserves are estimated at seven trillion cubic feet.

Iran and Kuwait have held unsuccessful talks for many years over their disputed maritime border area, which is rich in natural gas.

Saudi Arabia is also a part of the dispute since it shares with Kuwait maritime gas and oil resources in the area.

Over the years, Iranian officials have held a series of talks with the two countries over the dispute and repeatedly emphasized the importance of resolving it.

Kuwaiti and Iranian officials held joint negotiations in Tehran in March regarding the demarcation of their maritime borders. Both sides stressed the need to settle the matter in accordance with international laws.

On July 5, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian held talks with his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Salem Abdullah al-Jaber al-Sabah in Baku on the sidelines of the meeting of the top diplomats of the Non-Aligned Movement member-states.

The two officials affirmed the importance of boosting cooperation to maintain the region’s security, safety, and stability, stressing the need for preserving dialogue, Arabic media reported.

Similarly, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Oji met his Saudi counterpart, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, on the sidelines of an OPEC conference in Vienna to discuss bilateral issues.

 Iran adheres to good neighborliness and mutual interests

Reacting to the latest claims by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait over their exclusive rights to Arash gas field, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani said on July 11 that Iran adheres to the principles of good neighborliness and mutual interests in exploiting shared hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Also last week, Iranian lawmaker Hadi Beiginejad said that Iran has a 40 percent share in the field. 

“Iran's 40 percent share in the Arash joint field cannot be ignored and this right of Iran cannot be hidden,” Beiginejad told Fars News Agency. 

He was responding to the statements by Kuwaiti and Saudi officials saying that Iran has no share in the field and it should start talks over demarcating the border between Iran and Kuwait. 

The lawmaker rejected the allegation, underlining that the Arash joint gas field is located next to Esfandiar, Forozan and Soroush fields on a border line and Iran has a share in all these fields.

Beiginejad called on the Saudis to respect the rights of their neighbors.

“Instead of these comments, the Saudi authorities should observe the principle of good neighborliness in their relations with their neighbors and respect the rights of their neighbors,” he suggested. 

Iran will not back down from its rights

While adhering to the principles of good neighborliness and mutual interests, the Islamic Republic will not back down from its rights in Arash gas field.

On July 7, Mustafa Nakhaei, the spokesman of the Energy Committee of the Iranian Parliament, said the Islamic Republic will not back down from its rights in Arash gas field, and criticized the Iranian authorities for not taking measures to exploit the gas field.

“We have many joint fields with neighboring countries, and in all development programs, attention and focus on joint fields have been emphasized. Our lack of planning and focus on the joint Arash gas field in all past years have caused competing countries to take action to develop it, but unfortunately, we have not done anything special about it,” he told parliamentary news agency ICANA.

He added: “About 60 years have passed since the discovery of this joint field and there are very valuable gas resources, to some extent gas condensates and a little oil in it.”

Nakhaei pointed out: “In the past years, we should have resolved the disputes with competing countries in the joint Arash gas field and planned for its development, but unfortunately, we have not taken any action for this.”

“Despite all the mentioned conditions, it is clear that Iran will not neglect its interests in Arash field in any way, and no official of the Islamic Republic of Iran has the right to turn a blind eye on or neglect the country's interests in this gas field and its development,” Nakhaei stressed.

He also called for the diplomatic resolution of the disputes over the Arash gas field. 

A fact-finding committee should be formed

According to Hassan Moradi, an energy expert, the right of ownership of Arash gas field requires the formation of a fact-finding committee.

Arash gas field is jointly located in the borders of three countries: Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, but who is the main owner is a matter that needs to be ascertained, the expert stated.

He said that an attempt should be made to entrust this matter to a fair arbitration commission to determine the real ownership rights over this gas field between the three countries of Iran, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia through negotiations and presenting documents in a peaceful manner.

Although the parties have shown interest in negotiations, the talks between them have not yet come to a result, and Iran should take it into account that any delay can make Kuwait and Saudi Arabia more serious in developing the field without Iran's participation.

For this reason, especially in the current situation, when Iran's relations with Saudi Arabia have improved, the need to adopt stronger diplomacy to assert Iran's rights in the Arash gas field is felt more than ever.

Another important point here is that the Arash case can be a benchmark for the slogans of friendship and good neighborliness of the southern neighbors.