JEDDAH: The Council of Ministers yesterday decided to extend the concession held by US oil giant Chevron in the neutral zone shared with Kuwait. It authorized Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi to sign the agreement with Chevron.
The concession, which expires in February 2009, is the last remaining oil exploration and production concession in either Saudi Arabia or Kuwait operated by a foreign firm. It covers a 5,000-square-km onshore area of the Divided Zone.
Together with Kuwait Gulf Oil Company, Chevron operates three fields: Wafra, South Umm Gudair and South Fuwaris, with a total production of some 300,000 barrels a day. A fourth field, Humma, is under long-term evaluation for potential development.
The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Crown Prince Sultan, expressed its hope that the international interfaith conference in Madrid, called by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, would usher in a new era of dialogue among religious faiths and cultures to promote world peace. The Cabinet meeting commended King Abdullah’s concern toward the “dangerous challenges” facing the world and his efforts to ward off the danger and bring nations closer by organizing such forums. King Abdullah is scheduled to open the Madrid conference tomorrow in the presence of nearly 200 delegates representing Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and other religions. The Makkah-based Muslim World League is the main organizer of the three-day event.
“The Cabinet expressed its hope that the Madrid conference would serve as a springboard for an effective dialogue among divine religions and cultures,” the Saudi Press Agency said, quoting Economy and Planning Minister and Acting Information Minister Khaled Al-Gosaibi.
The Cabinet hoped that the interfaith dialogue would help reach out to common moral and human values upheld by all religions and cultures.
It also agreed to the Kingdom’s accession to the International Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. “This convention aims at effective physical protection of nuclear material which is used for peaceful purposes... and combating crimes related to such material,” the Cabinet said, adding that it would be applied to the use, storage and transport of nuclear material on national territory.
The Cabinet ratified the new national strategy for the preservation of biological diversity in the Kingdom.
The Cabinet assigned Prince Sultan ibn Fahd, head of the Youth Welfare Presidency, to sign an agreement with Turkey for promoting cooperation in youth and sports.
