Sources from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia last week let it be known that trial production of 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) would start at the Khafji field in the ‘Partitioned Neutral Zone’ (PNZ) that it shares with Kuwait on or around the 25 th of February, with the field likely to be pumping about 60,000 bpd by August. Trial production of 10,000 bpd will also begin in the Kuwaiti area of the Zone in late March, likely increasing to around 80,000 bpd by the end of September, according to the sources. The plan is that within 12 months Khafji will be producing around 175,000 bpd and Wafra about 145,000 bpd. This said, it is an absolute truism that Saudi Arabia desperately needs the Brent crude oil benchmark price above US$84 per barrel – at the absolute minimum – to ensure that it does not record yet another dismal budget […]