Oil prices should rebound: Kuwaiti minister

Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 November 1999 05:00 Monday, 08 August 2011 09:58

Crude oil prices should bounce back once global markets regain confidence after last week s startling downgrade of the United States credit rating, the oil minister of OPEC-member Kuwait said on Sunday.

US light crude dived to a low of $82. 87 a barrel, its lowest level since November 2010, after the world s largest economy lost its top-notch AAA credit rating from Standard & Poor s on Friday, before better-than-expected US jobs growth data drove a modest recovery to $86. 88.

Increasing concern over the eurozone debt crisis also drove benchmark Brent crude oil down from highs of $120. 40 a barrel last Monday to a low of $104. 30 on Friday.

We hope that this drop (in oil markets) does not last for a long time and we start seeing international markets recovering gradually after the panic we have seen from the situation in the US and Europe, Mohammad al-Busairi told Reuters in an interview on Sunday.

Kuwait s crude output averaged 2. 6-2. 7 million barrels per day (mbpd) in July, peaking at 2. 8 mbpd some days, Busairi said, adding that Kuwait s output in August would depend on demand. Kuwait was the world s sixth largest oil exporter in 2010 and the government relies heavily on oil revenues.

Courtesy: Business Recorder