By Abdelwaheb El-Gueyed
VIENNA, Sept 22 (KUNA) -- Kuwaiti Minister of Oil Essam Al-Marzouq lauded Friday the level of commitment by OPEC's members towards the production cut deal, indicating that the level of commitment was at 116 percent.
Speaking to KUNA after the conclusion of one-day meeting for the Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), Al-Marzouq, who is the Kuwaiti Minister of Electricity and Water and also JMMC chairman, said that he was optimistic in regards to the stability in the global oil market.
Prices went up in the previous weeks by more than 10 percent while crude reserves, which were increasing in the last five years, went down by 170 million barrels, said the minister.
The Kuwait top oil official said that prices will hopefully stabilize in the upcoming seven months with OPEC and non-OPEC countries continuing to commit to lowering production by 558,000 barrels per day as agreed upon last May.
On whether the production cut agreement will carry on after March of 2018, the JMMC chairman said that issue was still early to discuss, adding that the committee will continue its monthly meetings to monitor the prices and production levels.
In late 2016, OPEC and other major producers led by Russia agreed to cut global production by 1.8 million barrels per day in an effort to stabilize prices. The agreement was extended until March of 2018. (end) amg.gta