Saudi Arabia and Kuwait today announced a new onshore oil discovery in the Neutral Zone that is shared between the two countries.
The Wara-Burgan-1 well, located around 5km north of the 250,000 b/d capacity Wafra field, was discovered by Wafra Joint Operations (WJO), a joint venture between Saudi Arabia Chevron and state-owned Kuwait Gulf Oil (KGOC).
Wafra is one of two producing fields in the Neutral Zone currently. The other is the 300,000 b/d capacity offshore Khafji field. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait share production from fields in this zone equally.
The countries said the well has an estimated flow rate “exceeding 500 b/d, with an API gravity of 26-27°.”
This represents the first discovery in the zone since crude production resumed in 2020 following a near five-year shut-in over operational differences between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
Production from the two Neutral Zone fields has held below capacity since that restart, in part because of both countries’ commitments to the ongoing Opec+ production restraint deal.
Combined output stood just shy of 500,000 b/d last year. But the countries are planning to invest to raise Neutral Zone production to above 600,000 b/d over the coming years.
