Kuwait to Raise Oil Output

Kuwait will raise oil output by 85,000 barrels per day starting this week, part of an agreement between OPEC and non-OPEC producers to increase production by 1 million bpd, the country's energy minister said. “Kuwait will raise its oil production from tomorrow to 2.785 million barrels, a daily increase of 85,000 compared to May, based on last week’s production cut agreement,” Bakhit al-Rashidi was also quoted as saying by Reuters. OPEC agreed with Russia and other oil-producing allies this month to raise output from July by about 1 million bpd. Saudi Arabia plans to pump up to 11 million bpd in July and Russia has said it could increase output by more than 200,000 bpd. Oil prices hit $80 a barrel this year for the first time since 2014, prompting consumers like the United States to raise concerns. The output increase followed the call by United States for OPEC members to raise output to compensate for supply losses caused by renewed US sanctions on Iran.