US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT1063

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 001063 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/FO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2013 
TAGS: PREL, EAID, EPET, KU, SA, JO 
SUBJECT: KUWAIT REQUESTS IMMEDIATE U.S. ASSISTANCE TO 
PROVIDE JORDAN OIL 
 
REF: KUWAIT 858 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (U) This is an action request. Please see para. 5. 
 
2. (C) Summary:  On March 24, the GOK requested immediate USG 
assistance in facilitating an oil swap with Saudi Arabia, 
thereby providing Jordan with badly needed crude oil. End 
Summary. 
 
3. (C) During their March 24 meeting, Kuwaiti MinState for 
Foreign Affairs, Shaykh Dr. Mohammed Al-Sabah told the 
Ambassador that Jordanian FM Marwan Muasher had recently 
contacted him to request that the GOK provide Jordan with its 
previously promised oil support.  FM Muasher told Dr. 
Mohammed that the KSA had informed him that the Yanbu export 
terminal had reached it maximum export capacity, and Saudi 
Arabia would not be able to help Kuwait meet its commitments 
to Jordan. (Note: Publicly available information lists the 
East-West Pipeline (Petroline) capacity as 4.8 million 
barrels-per-day (bpd) and Yanbu Export Terminal capacity as 
4.5 million bpd. End Note.) 
 
4. (C) Dr. Mohammed said Kuwait "will honor its commitments" 
and stands ready to support Jordan.  However, it has no way 
to ship oil to Jordan itself.  He proposed that the best 
solution would be a Kuwaiti/Saudi oil swap whereby Saudi 
Arabia would make 25,000 bpd of oil available at Yanbu and in 
return Kuwait would provide 25,000 bpd from its share of 
production at the Khafji oil field to Saudi Arabia.  He asked 
for USG support in persuading Saudi Arabia to agree to such 
an arrangement. 
 
5. (C) Action Request: Embassy recommends Department issue 
urgent demarche to both Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to fix this 
problem between themselves without further delay. 
JONES