Kuwait Oil Minister: OPEC monitors market. Trump remarks about Russian oil
Kuwait's Oil Minister Tariq AlRoumi stated on Thursday that OPEC closely monitors global oil supply and demand trends as well as U.S. president Donald Trump's recent remarks about Russian oil.
Al-Roumi, a reporter, said that OPEC monitors the market for supply and demand. He also keeps an eye on the U.S. president's comments. Al-Roumi added that he expected oil prices to fall below $72 a barrel.
The Minister described the market's health as moderately growing, with a healthy demand.
The oil price fell by about 1% on Wednesday, reaching an eight-week-low after U.S. president Donald Trump's comments about progress made in negotiations with Moscow caused uncertainty about whether the U.S. will impose additional sanctions against Russia.
Trump has threatened to impose additional sanctions against Russia if it does not take action to end the conflict in Ukraine.
Washington imposed an additional 25% tariff Wednesday on Indian goods citing New Delhi’s continued imports from Russia of oil.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation's CEO said that Kuwait's quota is 2,548 million barrels of oil per day (bpd), and the country has the capacity to produce even more.
"We produce this quota and have a capacity that is far greater than that. We use this capacity as needed," Sheikh Nawaf Sabah Al-Sabah told reporters.
OPEC and its partners, collectively known as OPEC+ (Oil Producing Countries plus Allies), agreed on Sunday to increase oil production by 547,00 barrels per day in September.
The latest in a string of accelerated production increases to capture market share was in line and early with the market's expectations. It marked a complete and early reversal and the largest tranche of cuts in output for the group, which amounted to approximately 2.5 million bpd or 2.4% of global consumption.
(source: Reuters)
