Kuwait’s Khafji oilfield has been closed for technical, rather than political, reasons, according to State News agency KUNA.
The Khafji oilfield is jointly run by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and rumours had emerged of tensions developing between the two Gulf neighbours. However, Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry undersecretary, Khaled al-Jarallah, told reporters that the site had been shut down temporarily to comply with environmental legislation.
“This discrepancy is related to the joint zone, joint production and the aspects of this production,” he told said.
“The halt of oil production in the divided zone is due to purely technical, rather than political reasons,” he added.
News agency Reuters reported that an onshore gas gathering plant in Khafji needed to be repaired after a gas leak and that the repairs could take around six weeks.
“Our brothers in the Kingdom (of Saudi Arabia) want to conduct maintenance work and take some measures linked to the environment which the Kuwaiti side understand and is aware of,” Jarallah said
