Kuwaiti petroleum minister: OPEC should abide by reductions in petroleum production

Kuwaiti Minister of Petroleum Sheikh Saud Nasser al-Sabah said yesterday that the petroleum exporters in OPEC should abide by production reductions, even if prices continue to increase.

Sheikh Saud was asked at what stage OPEC should intervene to change its production if prices continue to increase, answering, "We will leave the petroleum prices to increase."

Petroleum prices have nearly doubled since March, when a group of petroleum producers inside OPEC agreed upon reductions in production of 1.7 million barrels daily for one year.

The agreement, which will expire at the end of March 2000, aims at putting an end to excess supplies in world markets, which caused a severe deterioration in petroleum prices that claimed 50% of export revenues of OPEC member states in 1998.