RIYADH: Kuwaiti emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah held talks Saudi King Abdullah during his visit to the kingdom amid a row between the two Gulf neighbours over a shared offshore oilfield.
Both the kings discussed aspects of cooperation between the two brotherly countries along with regional and international affairs, said the official Saudi Press Agency without giving any further details.
According to the Kuwait’s state-run KUNA news agency, the emir is heading an official delegation including the foreign minister in a “brotherly visit” which was previously unannounced.
Kuwait on Monday played down the row with Riyadh over its decision to halt production at Khafji oilfield jointly operated by the two Arab countries.
Kuwait’s Oil Minister Ali al-Omair said that he hoped the matter would be resolved through dialogue and contacts while foreign ministry undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah said the stoppage at the 311,000 barrels-per-day facility was because of technical and political reasons.
Khafji is part of the neutral zone between Kuwait and Saudi Arabia which is jointly operated by the two nations and had produced about 700,000 bpd of shared crude.
The two governments signed the neutral zone agreement almost 50 years ago.
