Kuwait Recommends OPEC Keep Current Output Ceiling, Al Rai Says

OPEC should maintain its production ceiling at its next meeting in December because oil prices have been rising, Kuwait’s Oil Minister Hani Abdulaziz Hussain said, according to the Al Rai newspaper.

The market is “balanced,” with positive effects from a better-than-expected performance in the U.S. economy and stability in Europe, he said, the Kuwaiti paper reported. The crude oil market will have a surplus, leading to a decline in prices, once the international crisis over Iran’s nuclear program eases and the Islamic country’s oil exports return to normal, he said.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries comprises Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. It plans to meet next on Dec. 12.

To contact the reporters on this story: Wael Mahdi in Manama at wmahdi@bloomberg.net; Nayla Razzouk in Dubai at nrazzouk2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Stephen Voss at sev@bloomberg.net