Kuwait’s Oil Minister Tariq Al-Roumi said on Thursday he anticipated higher oil demand following this week’s U.S. interest rate cut, particularly from Asian markets.
The U.S. Federal Reserve reduced interest rates on Wednesday for the first time since December.
The minister also expects a positive impact on oil prices if new sanctions are imposed on Russia, he said.
President Donald Trump said on Saturday the U.S. was prepared to impose fresh energy sanctions on Russia, but only if all NATO nations ceased purchasing Russian oil and implemented similar measures.
Eight OPEC+ members agreed on September 7 to raise output by 137,000 bpd in October, an extension of the group’s policy since April of increasing production after years of cuts to support the oil market.
Despite the agreement to raise output, “prices are more than good”, Al-Roumi said.
“We had expected the worst but things are fine,” he added. “The oil market is puzzling and very difficult to predict.”
The minister made the remarks at an event to mark the start of oil and gas production at the Kuwait Oil Company’s Mutriba field, which is targeting output of between 80,000 and 120,000 bpd of light oil.
“This step supports Kuwait in achieving its strategy to reach an oil production capacity of 4 million bpd by 2035,” said KOC CEO Ahmad Al-Aidan at the event. Its current capacity is below 3 million bpd.
Source: Reuters