OPEC delivering on agreed oil output cuts: Kuwait

The OPEC oil cartel has implemented more than 90 percent of its agreed output cuts aimed at curbing a glut on world markets, Kuwait’s oil minister said yesterday.

OPEC and NON-OPEC producers including Russia agreed late last year to reduce output by about 1.8 million barrels per day in a landmark deal that followed a sharp drop in oil prices.

“OPEC compliance with the output cuts is excellent ... Compliance has reached 92 percent,” said Kuwaiti oil minister Essam al-marzouk, who chairs a committee tasked with monitoring the agreement.

NON-OPEC producers had delivered on more than half of their pledged production reductions, he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Kuwait City.

Marzouk attributed the relatively low NONOPEC implementation rate to previously agreed export commitments.

“We understand that the compliance of NONOPEC producers will be gradual through the months of April and May,” said Marzouk.

“We hope for full compliance from all producers,” he added.

Global oil prices fell from more than US$100 a barrel in June 2014 to near 13-year lows of less than US$30 in early 2016, hitting the public finances of many oil producing nations.

They have since bounced back above $50 following the output cuts that took effect at the start of 2017.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was down nine cents at US$53.77 per barrel in Asian trade on Monday while Brent North Sea slipped five cents to US$56.65.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency reported last week a compliance rate of 90 percent by OPEC countries, calling it “a record”.

The five-member Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee headed by Kuwait will meet in the emirate next month to re-assess compliance with the pledged cuts.