Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are preparing to restart production at the shared al-Khafji oil field, after coming to an agreement regarding the two fields in the Neutral Zone. Output is expected at the end of February, Reuters reported, citing two anonymous sources.
A Kuwaiti oil official told Reuters that trial production of 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) would start at Khafji field close to 25 February, and the field should be pumping 60,000bpd by August.
Meanwhile, 10,000bpd trial output will come from Wafra field in late March, which will grow to 80,000bpd after another six months. Within a year, al-Khafji should be producing 175,000bpd and Wafra 145,000bpd.
However, with OPEC cuts in place, and rumours that they could be extended throughout 2020, or potentially deepened, the actual impact that this would have on supply is unclear, although sources told Reuters that production from the fields will be balanced by a cut from other fields.