Kuwaiti oil barrel up by 85 cents, reaches USD 54.89

KUWAIT, Dec 25 (KUNA) -- The price of Kuwaiti oil barrel rose by 85 cents on Wednesday reaching USD 54.89, compared to USD 54.04 per barrel on Tuesday, according to Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC).
International oil markets are expected to see a slow activity in the upcoming days due to Christmas celebrations. Meanwhile, prices of crude oil contracts in Asian markets had dropped due to the rise of the US dollar against the main currencies.
Oil markets are still affected by the recent statement of Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naeemi, who said that his country, one of the biggest oil producers in the world, will not reduce its oil production rate even if prices dropped to USD 20 pb.
The American crude oil was traded at USD 55.84 pb in New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) yesterday, while Brent contracts reached USD 60.24 pb.(end) mjb.tb.ag