Kuwait's oil output exceeds 3 mn bpd

Kuwait has boosted its oil output to above three million barrels per day, the oil minister said Sunday and warned that any cut in crude production would send world prices soaring. "Our oil production yesterday (Saturday) hit 3.067 million barrels and the previous day we produced 3.054 million barrels," Mohammad al-Baseeri said in comments cited by the official KUNA news agency. In September and October, Kuwait produced 2.9 million bpd, high above its OPEC quota of 2.2 million bpd, making it the group's third largest crude producer. Baseeri said Kuwait boosted its production to compensate for a shortage in the market, adding that the world would still need additional supplies of between 1.0 million and 1.5 million bpd until the end of 2011. The minister said Kuwait would call on the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which meets next month, to raise output to meet increasing demand. "Any cut in production will trigger a big increase in prices which will not alleviate the economic crises in Europe and the United States and will leave a negative impact on producers and consumers," the minister said. Baseeri said that if OPEC decides to raise output at the meeting in Vienna, Kuwait will demand an increase to its production quota. The benchmark US oil price closed on Friday near the $100 mark last seen in late July as market bullishness followed a rise in confidence that Europe is moving toward a resolution of its debt crisis. On the New York Mercantile exchange, WTI light sweet crude for December delivery gained $1.21 to end at $98.99 a barrel, after briefly touching $99.20. On London's Intercontinental Exchange, Brent North Sea crude for December added 45 cents to $114.16.