joint oil and gas fields; A test for Iran’s energy future

According to Energy Press, in the heart of the earth, the political border has no meaning. Earth’s layers, formed millions of years ago by the pressure and heat of organic matter, form a continuous expanse that is ignorant of human mapping, commitment, and convention. This is why many of the world’s huge hydrocarbon reserves are located along the borders of countries; Especially in the Middle East, where the geology holds much of the world’s fossil energy.
In simple terms, the common field is the “oil or gas table” through which the geopolitical border passes. In such a case, each country can withdraw from its respective section, but the withdrawal amount of each country can only be controlled until the other side does not withdraw. If one of the governments starts developing the field earlier, the pressure inside the reservoir will decrease and the fluid flow will be inclined towards the active wells; It means “one-way harvesting”.
Lessons from the world
Global experience has shown that timely development and technical cooperation between countries that have a common field can be beneficial for both parties. For example, Norway and Britain signed agreements on North Sea fields in the 1970s to ensure balanced harvesting and technology exchange. As a result, today both countries are known as models of transparent energy management.
But in the Middle East, political and technical alignment has not provided such an order. The competition between Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar has often led to accelerated and unbalanced development. In the meantime, countries with higher financial and technological capabilities have started drilling earlier and have allocated a larger share of common reservoirs.