Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 8/ Trend M. Moezzi/
As Iran and Kuwait continue disagreeing about the development of the Persian Gulf's Arash gas and oil field, another proposal has been offered, Mehr news agency reports.
Last week, Kuwait strongly protested Iran's statement that it will develop the Arash field alone.
In response, Iran has offered Kuwait to choose a joint operator for the investment, development and production of the Arash field.
But if the proposal is not fulfilled Iran will act alone, an Iranian official said. International law recognizes that every country in the Persian Gulf has the right to develop its own national resources in the joint fields, Mahmoud Zirakchianzadeh, managing director of Iran's Offshore Oil Company (IOOC), said.
Iran's officials said the country would pay $150-million cost of the first phase of Arash's development itself and work on the field may begin by the second half of 2012.
The Arash field was discovered in 1977 and Iran drilled its first exploration well in 1992. The field is located in the northwestern Persian Gulf between Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. According to the estimates, Arash field has one trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 310 million barrels of crude oil.