KUWAIT CITY — Saudi Arabia and Kuwait signed an agreement on Tuesday to resume pumping at two major oilfields in a shared neutral zone shut for five years due to a bilateral disagreement, officials said.

The agreement will lead to the resumption of “oil production on both sides,” Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy said in a tweet. “Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman, and Kuwaiti Minister of Oil, Dr. Khaled Al-Fadhel, signed today a memorandum of understanding related to the procedures for resuming petroleum production on both sides,” the full tweet said.

Meanwhile, Kuwait reported that the two countries also signed an agreement on the demarcation of land and maritime borders in the neutral zone, according to a report in KUNA, Kuwait’s official news agency.

The report did not give details on the contents of the deal which likely revolves around amending previous border agreements between the two Arab nations. The two fields were pumping some 500,000 barrels per day before production was halted, first at Khafji in October 2014 and then at Wafra seven months later, over a dispute between the neighbors. Riyadh said at the time that the decision was due to environmental issues.

The oil produced in the neutral zone in the border area is shared equally between the two nations. Khafji, an offshore field, was jointly operated by Kuwait Gulf Oil Co. and Saudi Aramco Gulf Operations, while the onshore Wafra field was operated by KGOC and Saudi Arabian Chevron. Tuesday's agreement comes as oil prices are under pressure due to abundant reserves and weak global economic growth. Continued soft pricing has prompted OPEC and its allies to make deeper production cuts starting next month. — AFP