KUWAIT CITY, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- An agreement to cut oil production to meet with the terms of an OPEC agreement reached in November holds through the first quarter, a Kuwaiti company said.
The national Kuwait Petroleum said it was committed to playing its part in an agreement reached by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to sideline a collective 1.2 million barrels per day. The arrangement is aimed at restoring balance to an oil market favoring the supply side and compliance was expected Jan. 1
A spokesperson at the company told the official Kuwait News Agency the country's share of reduction is around 131,000 barrels per day and will be implemented until the end of the first quarter. The text of the OPEC agreement calls for compliance for six months.
Kuwait is a member of a committee responsible for monitoring compliance among parties to the agreement. Non-member states like Russia and Oman joined the effort formally in mid-December.
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Kuwait's confirmation followed separate reports in regional media of compliance from Kuwait itself and Oman. Collectively, the two countries committed to cuts of about 170,000 bpd.
Kuwait is the fifth-largest producer among OPEC nations, based on data provided to the production group from secondary sources. Those sources reported Kuwait's crude oil production in November at 2.78 million bpd.
The OPEC agreement uses a reference level of 2.83 million bpd for Kuwait, which means the country is obligated to 2.7 million bpd starting in January. Based on November figures from secondary sources, Kuwait would be producing around 2.65 million bpd this month under the agreement. The country directly reported November output at 2.9 million bpd, meaning if that level were accurate, Kuwait would be over its commitment level by about 69,000 bpd.
A report in the Times of Oman on that country's commitment to the OPEC deal said compliance could unravel should producers not party to the agreement ramp up their output.
