Kuwait, Iraq say Opec will not cut output alone

[KUWAIT CITY] The Kuwaiti and Iraqi oil ministers said Tuesday that Opec will not cut production unless producers outside the cartel do the same, despite the plunge in crude prices.

"Opec cannot cut its production unless there is a similar reduction by producers outside Opec," Kuwait's acting oil minister, Anas al-Saleh, told reporters on the sidelines of an oil conference.

"I don't see any logic in Opec cutting production while non-Opec (countries) don't cut," Saleh said.

Iraqi Oil Minister Adel Abdulmahdi said his country was "ready to cooperate" on cutting production to raise oil prices but only if non-Opec producers did as well.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has refused to cut production despite a drop in oil prices to 13-year lows.

Led by Gulf producers, the cartel is refusing to reduce crude output as it seeks to drive less-competitive players, including US shale producers, out of the market.

Crude fell back below $30 a barrel in Asia on Tuesday as worries about the global supply glut returned to the fore, following a two-day rebound.

AFP