KUWAIT: An oil price above $100 a barrel would hurt the global economy, Kuwait’s oil minister said yesterday.
Optimism on global economic recovery drove a more than 40 percent rally in oil prices in the second quarter, the highest quarterly percentage gain since 1990.
“Hopefully in the third quarter and fourth quarter, it won’t surpass $100 as this will fuel recession again,” Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah told reporters in parliament.
Oil had already hit the price that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was looking for in the second half of the year, he said. Speculators and US dollar weakness were among the factors behind the rise, Sheikh Ahmad said.
He reiterated that OPEC would not raise production at its meeting in September if there were still surplus supplies of oil on the market.
OPEC has kept output targets steady this year after pledging to curb supply by 4.2 million barrels per day last year to match falling demand from a shrinking global economy.
The oil price was more than enough to meet Kuwait’s budgetary needs and would generate a surplus, he said. The world’s fourth-largest oil exporter relies on oil for 95 percent of state revenues.
Meanwhile, oil prices sank under $67 yesterday after weak jobs data quashed hopes of a speedy economic recovery in the United States, which is the world’s top energy consumer.
In late afternoon trade here, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in August dropped $2.17 to $66.62 a barrel, having earlier hit 66.33.
New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for August delivery fell $2.47 to $66.84 per barrel, after earlier touching 66.54.
