Kuwait, Saudi halt oil output from neutral zone

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are to suspend oil production from the neutral zone they share in June as part of cuts they agreed to shore up prices, a Kuwaiti official said.

The Opec oil groupl to which they both belong struck a deal with non-Opec producers led by Russia in April to cut output by a record 9.7 million barrels per day after crude prices plummeted to a two-decade low.

Last week, Saudi Arabia — the world’s biggest oil exporter — pledged to cut an additional one million bpd beyond its agreed quota in June in a bid to reduce excess supply.

The UAE and Kuwait followed suit with pledges of additional cuts of 100,000bpd and 60,000bpd, respectively.

In the neutral zone, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia decided to shut down the offshore Khafji oilfield for one month starting June 1, acting head of Kuwait Oil Gulf Co. Abdullah Al-Sumaiti told the official KUNA news agency.