Iran ready to cooperate with Kuwait on Arash oilfield

Managing Director of Iranian Offshore Oil Company Mahmoud Zirakchian said that the Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to cooperate with Kuwait for expansion of Arash joint oilfield. 'Iran still insists on its positive diplomacy of expansion of Arash oilfield and it is ready to cooperate with the brother, Muslim, and neighboring country of Kuwait,' the official added. Zirakchian noted that the increase in output and also increase in the trend of retrieving crude oil from joint oilfields is another objective of Iranian Offshore Oil Company. 'The oil production output in the joint oilfields increased by 10 percent in 2011,' he added. According to the oil official, an agreement for expansion of a number of joint oilfields have been signed and Arash Oilfield has to expand further in 2012. Commenting on the expansion of Arash oilfield, Zirakchian pointed out that during the visit of the incumbent Kuwaiti Oil Minister to Iran Hani Hussein and the subsequent visit of an Iranian delegation to that country, the Islamic Republic of Iran officially offered the positive diplomacy of cooperation instead of unitization. 'The two sides emphasized on positive diplomacy during their talks and Iran still insists that in expansion of joint oilfields, positive diplomacy and cooperation should replace unitization,' the official added.