Kuwait expects OPEC to continue production

DOHA, March 11, 2015 – The producers from the Gulf region in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) seem determined to continue with the current production strategy, which has led to lower prices, with Kuwait’s governor to OPEC signalling on Tuesday the policy of about 30 million barrels of crude output per day may continue.

“I think so because there is less than two months, removing weekend and summer time, before the next OPEC meeting,” Nawal Al-Fuzaia said at an energy conference in Qatar. “I don’t think there would be a big change in the oil market supply/demand in this time,” she said. OPEC will convene in Vienna to decide on production quotas in June.

OPEC refused to lower its production quota in November 2014 despite slowing demand and lower prices. The price of crude has plummeted to levels below $50 per barrel since then. According to the credit rating agency Moody’s Investor Service, the price of crude oil may average $55 a barrel throughout 2015.

Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s largest producer, and its allies from Gulf countries within the group, have signalled the wish to hold onto the current production policy, while members such as Iran, Nigeria and Venezuela, who feel the most negative impact on their economies from the falling prices, are opposed to this.

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