Kuwaiti Oil Minister Mohammad Al-Fares voiced optimism for continued recovery of the global economy despite concerns about the Omicron coronavirus variant, the state news agency said late on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the OPEC+ group agreed to stick to its planned increase in oil output for February because it expects the Omicron coronavirus to have a short-lived impact on global energy demand.

The group of producers comprising the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia has raised its output target each month since August by 400,000 barrels per day (bpd).

“Opec+ strategy to raise production is successful amid market challenges” the agency quoted the minister as saying.

Kuwait’s share of the output increase will be 27,000 bpd, reaching 2,612,000 bpd in total, he said, explaining optimism is also coming from an increase in industrial activity and a recovery of demand levels.
Source: Reuters (Reporting By Omar Fahmy and Moaz Abd-Alaziz; Editing by Chris Reese)