By Osama Jalal
KUWAIT, March 26 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's Oil Minister and Minister of Electricity and Water Essam Al-Marzouq said Sunday that the agreement to reduce production between OPEC countries and major producers from outside the cartel aims to rebalance the oil market and does not aim to reach a specific price for a barrel of oil.
آ آ آ Al-Marzouq told reporters before the start of the second meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee to monitor the oil market under his chairmanship in Kuwait on Sunday that rock oil produced by some countries, led by the United States of America, is not separate from oil produced from other countries and is subject to supply and demand.
آ آ آ On the actual volume of export by Kuwait, he explained that it varies from day to day according to shipments, as sometimes it rises to three million barrels per day and sometimes drops to 2.5 million barrels per day, pointing out that the average size of actual export currently ranges between 2.1 and 2.2 million barrels per day.
آ آ آ Asked by KUNA on whether the OPEC agreement to cut down production has made Kuwait to lose some of its quotas, the minister said "We do not lose our quotas or our traditional markets, but we reduce our shipments to these markets." آ آ آ "Kuwait's marketing agreements have a kind of flexibility," he said, adding "We can cut five percent of shipments without impact on the contract." آ آ آ "Kuwait is always looking for new markets and sources of sustainability," he said, pointing out that "the refineries being built by Kuwait abroad aim to provide a safe outlet for our oils for a longer period." آ آ آ Al-Marzouq pointed out that Kuwait will increase the reduction of shipments destined for America "because our interest is greater in the East Asian countries than North America and Europe." آ آ آ And on the agreement on reducing production and competition in the market, he stated that the competition is permanent and everyone in the end are aiming to increase profitability, stressing that Kuwait seeks to compensate for the shortage existing in the world and thus tends that its shipments go to markets that achieve more profitability.
آ آ آ The second meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee to monitor the oil market was launched in Kuwait on Sunday morning under the chairmanship of the Minister of Oil and the Minister of Electricity and Water, Essam Al-Marzouq.
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.(pick up previous).
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