Mubasher: The Kuwaiti minister of oil, and the minister of electricity and water said on Monday that the oil spots, found last week off Messila area, stemmed from old oil spills outside the territorial waters of Kuwait.

Esam Al-Marzouqi added that "these oil spots have nothing to do with the recent oil spill in South Al-Zour area that prompted an effective response from Kuwait," Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) quoted the minister’s remarks to Kuwait TV.

"Vessels from Kuwait Navy and Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) reached the scene and contained the oil spill within a few hours," the minister noted.

"Preliminary results of the probes show that the sources of the sill are old and stem from outside our territorial waters," he said, noting the Saudi and Iranian authorities affirmed that they received no reports in this regard.

The final results, that will determine the exact source of the oil spill, will emerge after completing the analyses of the recent satellite images, Al-Marzouqi further indicated.

The oil tankers responsible for the accident will be liable to sanctions on par with sanctions imposed by the United States following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.