LOC18:58
15:58 GMT
KUWAIT, April 24 (KUNA) -- The world's oil supply has increased by 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd) to reach 98 million bpd in the first quarter of 2018, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) said Tuesday.
The boost in global oil supply comes as a byproduct of the significant rise in US crude oil production, the director of OAPEC's department of economics Abdulfattah Dendi told a panel discussion hosted by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Oil.
He pointed out that US crude oil production had risen to a more than 46-year record high with 9.64 million bpd, while global oil demand is expected to grow by 1.6 million bpd this year.
OAPEC's basket of crude oil is now worth USD 64.7 per barrel, Dendi revealed, a 24 percent increase in comparison to the previous year, while he estimated the "fair price" of a barrel of oil to be around USD 70 to 80.
He attributed the spike in oil prices to numerous factors, chief among them increased seasonal demand and the decline in global oil reserves, both of which occurred as a result of an OPEC deal to slash output well into the end of the year.
Meanwhile, OAPEC's media director Abdulkarim Ayed touched on the Paris Climate Agreement, urging the 55 signatories to remain committed on the political front to stave off the effects of climate change, given the urgent nature of the matter.
The countries involved in the deal need to go back to the drawing board over the need to cut greenhouse gas emissions, he explained, ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference scheduled for December. (end)
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