Kuwait ready to consider delaying OPEC output cut: Report

Kuwait is ready to consider delaying a scheduled OPEC output cut next month provided there is a shortage in supplies and prices remain high, the emirate's energy minister was quoted by AFP as saying.

"The delay is possible if we find that the surplus is less than 3.5 million barrels and prices are high because of demand," Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahd al-Sabah told reporters in parliament.

"I believe it is the duty of OPEC to cooperate positively," he added Tuesday.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided at a meeting in Algiers last month to reduce from April 1 its production ceiling from 24.5 million to 23.5 million barrels per day.

The decision was taken on the basis of expectations that there will be an excess of 3.5 million bpd of supplies in the second quarter.

"We must know the (size) of surplus on the market, and we should know the cause of the soaring price ... If members decide to delay the cuts due to high prices or shortage of supplies, undoubtedly OPEC will deal positively" with such a proposal, the minister said.

"I say that the OPEC decision we took at Algiers is still valid and we should continue with it until we meet at the end of this month and see all the available information," he said.

OPEC ministers are scheduled to meet in Vienna on March 31 to review the market situation.

The ministers should examine the causes of high prices and ensure they are not due to political factors, Sheikh Ahmad said.

"I believe if the (high) prices are the result of market forces and supply and demand, there should be a move to reduce it," he said.

But there should be no action if the increase is due to political reasons or to the long (harsh) winter, he added. "We must know the exact causes for the soaring prices."

OPEC has put out mixed signals on the likelihood of going ahead with the production cut.

Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said Monday there was a "consensus" within the 11-member cartel to slash both the official production ceiling and overproduction from April 1.

But on Sunday other OPEC members, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Algeria appeared to want the production cut re-considered.(*)