KUWAIT CITY - Kuwait and Iran are set to finalize a major deal under which Tehran will supply some 300 million cubic feet (nine million cubic meters) of natural gas daily to the emirate, the energy minister said Monday.
"We will complete negotiations and I hope to reach an understanding during this visit," Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah told reporters before leaving for Isfahan to attend an OPEC meeting.
"If we don't sign an agreement, we will (at least) finalize the deal... It may take some time before it is implemented," the minister said.
An Iranian technical team held talks in Kuwait last week with oil executives about the deal, Sheikh Ahmad said.
OPEC member Iran has the second largest gas reserves in the world after Russia.
Kuwait is rich with oil but not natural gas. The emirate has already signed an agreement with Qatar to import gas to feed its power plants but Saudi refusal to allow the pipeline through its territory has delayed the project.
Iran is involved in a dispute with Kuwait over the offshore Dorra gas field in which Saudi Arabia is expected to also eventually have a stake in conjunction with Kuwait.
The field is estimated to contain three to five percent of the world's known gas reserves.
Sheikh Ahmad said the dispute is being discussed at the level of foreign ministries in both countries through a joint committee.
Recoverable gas reserves of Dorra are estimated at some seven trillion cubic feet (200 billion cubic meters), with potential daily output of between 600 million and 1.5 billion cubic feet (17 and 43 million cubic meters).
03/14/2005 15:48 GMT