Production from the neutral zone between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait won’t be resumed anytime soon, as the issue became political rather than technical issue.

The statement was made by Nezar Al Adasani, deputy chairman of the board of directors and CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corp., while attending the annual social meeting of Kuwait’s Oil Development Association, on Nov. 5 in Kuwait. In the video which has now gone viral, and prompted KPC to issue a statement on Dec. 4, Al Adasani said that everything was in place to be signed prior the visit of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to Kuwait last October. A visit that was supposed to witness the signature of the agreement to resume production from the divided zone as the two parties agreed on all details and addressed all issues, but at the very last minute, things changes as the issue became political issue rather than a technical, Al Adasani said.

The statement of Al Adasani prompted the company to issue a statement due to the sensitivity of the issue, saying that the CEO’s statements were taken out of context.

The neutral zone produces more than 470,000 barrels of oil per day (bbl/d) from onshore and offshore fields. The onshore Al-Wafra Field has a production capacity of about 220,000 bbl/d of Arabian heavy crude, while the offshore Al-Khafji Field produces 250,000 bbl/d.

Production from the zone ceased in 2014 due to some technical issues, and the two parties were in talks to address the issue and resume production before the end of this year.

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