August 21, 2002	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Saani 11,1423

MOSCOW, Aug 20: Russia and Kuwait decided to join forces to develop oil fields on their respective territories, Kuwait’s acting oil minister said late on Monday.

Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, on a visit to Moscow, signed a protocol to that effect with his Russian counterpart Igor Yusufov, who praised the accord as an extremely positive step in bilateral relations, the Interfax news agency reported. Russia’s giant oil producer Sibneft had already applied to take part in a tender for the future development of Kuwait’s northern oil fields, whose reserves are estimated at $10 billion, Yusufov said.—AFP