Speaking to reporters following the GCC ministerial committee for water and power cooperation Ahmad said, “The surplus oil production capacity of Kuwait, which is 200,000 bpd, will be pumped into the market if this is required to calm down the oil prices.”
“Kuwait’s oil production [will] rise to 2.7 million from 2.5 million bpd next week once North Kuwait’s Gathering Centre No. 15 is back to operation,” he added.
Ahmad, however, strongly believes oil prices have reached its apex and prices would fall by the second quarter of 2005 and, to the Minister, the high prices were not the fault of OPEC but geopolitics.
“OPEC has moved to assure the market by deciding to hike output by 1 million bpd [and] OPEC members, minus Iraq, are also producing 2 million bpd above the ceiling. But all this has failed to reduce prices. The problem is not OPEC and production, but international concern resulting from political factors,” he said.
“Supply and demand is not the reason for oil price reaching these levels. Psychological and political reasons related to terrorism, and the situation in the Middle East and Iraq and in Nigeria created fears that led to such skyrocketing prices,” he added.
