KUWAIT: Core Gulf OPEC members are delivering over 90 percent of the oil supply curbs the organization agreed last year, a Kuwait oil official told state news agency KUNA on Sunday. Compliance is good, especially in Gulf countries where compliance exceeds 90 percent, Nawal Al-Fuzaia, Kuwait s national representative to OPEC, told KUNA. Core Gulf OPEC members Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar have been the most disciplined in the group in adhering to supply targets this year. OPEC agreed to cut supply by 4.2 million barrels per day, or around 5 percent of global demand, at the end of last year to match the impact of the recession on global demand. Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia went further than neighboring Gulf Arab states to pump below its target earlier this year in an effort to balance the crude market and prop up prices. The kingdom shouldered the biggest share of the group s cuts. US crude has recovered to trade above $70 a barrel, up from a low of $32.40 in December. The price is close to this year s high and only a few dollars under the $75-$80 that many in OPEC have said is needed to secure investment in new long-term supplies. OPEC compliance with agreed targets has been at historically high levels, but crude inventories have remained stubbornly high. Fuzaia said the very high inventory levels of around 62 days of demand was reflecting negatively on the oil price. Still, demand was improving in Asia, she said, especially in India and China. Industrial countries were likely to see demand improve next year after declining this year, she said. It was unclear what OPEC would decide when ministers next meet in September, she said. Last week, Kuwait s Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad al-Abdullah al-Sabah told KUNA that OPEC would keep its crude output target unchanged if oil prices stay at current levels. Kuwait is the world s fourth-largest oil exporter.
