Kuwait’s Oil Minister, Tareq Al-Roumi, said on Thursday that OPEC is willing to increase production by extending its oil production cuts as the market shortages need to be overcome in case new sanctions are imposed on Russian oil giants by the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump identified the biggest oil companies in Russia, Lukoil (LKOH.MM) and Rosneft (ROSN.MM), as the target of the most severe measures of Washington regarding Russian business since the invasion of Ukraine.
The news that also led India to consider reducing Russian imports increased global oil prices by 5 percent on Thursday.
In response to Reuters, Tareq Al-Roumi added that “I expect that any decision to impose sanctions will certainly have a positive impact on prices.”
He further stated that he expects that the demand will be shifted towards the Gulf and the Middle East due to the sanctions, reporting, “We are seeing signs now.”
Kuwait is one of seven OPEC+ nations that have been progressively enhancing oil production following years of decreases in the market in an agreement by the group that includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, in addition to Russia and some smaller producers.
The organization that pumps nearly half of the global oil has now turned around this year to recapture market share, and as Trump insisted that OPEC pump more to help maintain a check on gasoline prices.
It raised its Target oil production by over 2.7 million bpd this year, which is equivalent to approximately 2.5 percent of the world’s demand.
During its meeting on October 5, OPEC+ announced that it is going to increase oil production by 137,000 barrels per day (bpd) in November.
