Oil monitoring cmte's meeting kicks off

KUWAIT, March 26 (KUNA) -- The 2nd meeting of the Kuwait-chaired joint ministerial committee on monitoring world oil market kicked off on Sunday, headed by Minister of Oil and Minister of Electricity and Water Essam Al-Marzouq.
Kuwait's daily oil production rate is at 2.7 million barrel, Al-Marzouq told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting, adding that the country is committed to OPEC's agreement on cutting down production.
The minister noted that it is normal for export rates to drop, as Kuwait's contracts allow a five percent drop limit. Kuwait is continuously looking for new markets abroad and establishing new refineries, he added.
Responding to a question on shale oil, Al-Marzouq said the US laws forbid signing agreements on limiting production for this type of oil.
The joint committee includes three OPEC-member countries including Kuwait, Algeria and Venezuela, whereas non-OPEC members including Russia and Oman.
The current meeting comes after three months since OPEC's agreement to limit production rate by 1.8 million barrels per day came into effect.
As part of the agreement, OPEC's daily production is stable at 32.5 million barrels, aiming to face the drop in oil prices due to an overflow in international offered oil.(end) osj.tb.ag