KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait Petroleum Corp.’s chief executive said on Sunday the Gulf state currently produces more than 2.8 million barrels per day of oil in accordance with its quota set by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Sheikh Nawaf Saud Al-Sabah also said Kuwait has plans to increase crude oil production whenever the market needs it, but currently the customers of the state-owned corporation still demand the same volumes with no change. Kuwait produces 650 million cubic feet of gas per day, and plans to increase it to 1 billion, he added.
On the market environment, he said “ambiguity exists in all markets, whether gas or oil ... there are questions about the world economic future, especially with the interest rates hikes and the expected recession in global economies and the extent of their impact on oil demand.”
OPEC and allies including Russia, known as OPEC+, have this year been ramping up oil output as they look to unwind record cuts put in place in 2020 after the pandemic slashed demand.
However, OPEC+ in recent months has failed to achieve its planned output increases due to underinvestment in oilfields by some OPEC members and by losses in Russian output. In the third quarter so far, both Brent and West Texas Intermediate are down about 20 percent for the biggest quarterly percentage declines since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
The market also was rattled by the International Energy Agency’s outlook for almost zero growth in oil demand in the fourth quarter owing to a weaker demand outlook in China.
“Both the IMF and World Bank warned that the global economy could tip into recession next year. This spells bad news for the demand side of the oil coin and comes a day after the IEA forecast (on) oil demand,” said PVM analyst Stephen Brennock.
“Recession fears coupled with higher US interest rate expectations made for a potent bearish cocktail.”
