Kuwait oil price rises 95 cents to settle at $106.35 pb

Kuwait’s rise of her oil production to 2.9 million barrels per day will enhance her international standing as a major oil source, two local oil experts said Thursday.

Oil industry expert Abdul-Hameed Al-Awadi told KUNA that Kuwait’s oil production increase assures consuming countries about the availability of adequate supplies of oil on the market.

“Kuwait and Saudi Arabia decisions to raise oil production have helped market avoid unimagined price jumps after the recent geopolitical developments in the Middle East,” Al-Awadi said. “This rise also strengthens (OPEC) and its ability to supply the market with its demands of oil.” He underlined that the production increase, bolsters Kuwait’s international standing as a major oil source. Kuwait has proved to be a leading country in increasing production capacity, citing its ability to raise its capacity over the past year to 3.05 million barrels a day.

Al-Awadi expected prices to remain at current levels, ranging between $105 and $115 a barrel.
The resumption of Libyan oil export would not lead price to fall below this abovementioned level at least in the foreseeable future, he stressed.
For his part, oil expert Khaled Bodi said Kuwait is moving steadily towards lifting oil production to reach four million barrels per day by 2020, as per the strategy outlined by Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.

Kuwait Oil Company developed its production capacity significantly over the past ten years, especially with regard to exploration capacity, he added.
Bodi shared Al-Awadi the same view about the negative impact of this production surge.
“Production rise reinforces Kuwait’s position as a major world oil producer, “ he said, adding Kuwait’s quota of OPEC production cripples its production ambitions.

Bodi asserted that there is no problem relating to the sale of new oil supplies on global markets due to the continuing growth of demands and consumption.
“I believe that Kuwait will not need to cut its new output level (2.9 million barrels per day) and at the same time there is no risk of price retreat,” he said.
He noted that most (OPEC) member states are producing more than their set quotas.

Bodi, however, warned that prices could significantly decline if the world is hit by a new global economic crisis.
“So the government has to avoid adding new burdens on the state budget whose main source is oil revenues and do more efforts to diversify income sources,” he said.

Oil Minister and Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs Mohammad Al-Busairi announced last Monday that Kuwait’s oil production reached 2.9 million barrels per day during the first week of the month.

Meanwhile, oil prices were mixed on Tuesday as traders digested the International Energy Agency’s downgrade on global energy demand and expected the weekly US stockpiles report to show a sharp fall in crude oil.

New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in October, soared $2.02 to close at $90.21 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The last time the benchmark Nymex futures contract topped $90 was Aug 3.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for October delivery dropped 36 cents to settle at $111.89 a barrel on the IntercontinentalExchange.
A day ahead of the US Department of Energy’s (DoE) weekly oil inventories report, “estimates are looking for a drawdown again,” said John Kilduff, at Again Capital.

Also:
KUWAIT CITY: Price of the Kuwaiti crude oil went up 95 cents on Thursday to settle at $106.35 per barrel (pb), compared to $105.40 pb on Tuesday, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said in a statement Friday.

The spike in price came as a result of the European debt crisis breaking through after Germany and France agreed to bailout Greece, again.

Short-term expectations imply that crude oil prices may continue to fluctuate but tend to decline and with the continued rise of the dollar against major currencies due to investors’ appetite for safe-haven currencies amidst Europe’s sovereign debt crisis.

LONDON: OPEC’s reference crude oil basket price rose to $109.58 a barrel on Thursday from $107.91 in the previous session, OPEC said on Friday.

The reference basket comprises 12 crudes: Algeria’s Saharan Blend, Angola’s Girassol, Iran Heavy, Iraq’s Basra Light, Kuwait Export, Es Sider from Libya, Nigeria’s Bonny Light, Qatar Marine, Saudi Arabia’s Arab Light, Murban from the UAE, Venezuela’s Merey and Oriente from Ecuador.