Oil production in Saudi-Kuwait neutral zone may restart by January: minister

Crude production in the oilfields jointly operated by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in the neutral zone could restart by January, adding up to 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) in supplies at full ramp-up, S&P Global Platts reported, citing Kuwaiti oil minister Bakheet Al-Rashidi.

The two countries were working to resolve "technical issues related to the environment" in order to restart production from two fields that have been offline for almost four years due to a political dispute, he added.

While Saudi energy minister Khalid Al-Falih did not provide any timeline, he said the fields have a total capacity of 500,000 bpd.

"We are talking to them. Inshallah, we hope we will resolve it in the very near future," he said.

In June, state news agency KUNA cited Al-Rashidi as saying that  production had been halted until an agreement was reached between the two nations.