KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait is set to begin importing up to 200 million cubic feet of gas daily from neighbouring Iraq, oil ministers from the two Arab nations said after talks on Wednesday.

Cited by Kuwait News Agency KUNA, Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi said the project “will see the light very soon”.

Kuwaiti Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouk said the quantities have been agreed and the start date will be determined after technical committees fix prices and shipping methods.

Marzouk said an initial 50m cubic feet daily will rise gradually to 200m cubic feet a day.

Opec member Kuwait is rich in crude oil but poor in gas resources, and has imported gas for years during the summer months to meet demand.

Luaibi said they also discussed production from border oilfields and agreed to form a committee and appoint a consultant.

The Iraqi minister said without elaborating that the two nations do not have any differences.

Kuwait and Iraq had agreed in August 2010 “in principle” on a deal to regulate production from the frontier oilfields that once caused conflict between them. But that agreement, which called for a unified international company to drill for oil on the border, was not finalised.

Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s troops invaded and occupied Kuwait in August 1990 following claims over the border oilfields.

A number of oilfields lie on the frontier, including Iraq’s giant Rumaila field which extends into Kuwait where it is known as Ritqa.

Published in Dawn December 29th, 2016