Oil prices hovered near seven-week peaks today as more OPEC producers informed their customers of cuts in supply after the cartel's decision last week to curb production.
London Brent blend futures slipped 21 cents to $26.85 a barrel and US light crude dipped 19 cents to $31.98 after steep rally of $1.74 in New York.
Kuwaiti Oil Minister Sheikh Saud Nasser al-Sabah said today he had ordered the country's oil output be reduced by 120,000 barrels per day (bpd) from the beginning of February, in line with the latest OPEC agreement.
OPEC member the United Arab Emirates also informed regular customers in Japan and South Korea over the weekend that it would reduce deliveries next month by five percent.
Saudi Arabia told clients to expect less crude even before OPEC's decision and Iran announced deliveries would be lowered by 200,000 bpd with customers west of Suez taking 60 percent of the reduction.
OPEC decided last week to reduce its output by 1.5 million bpd to ward off any possible glut in the second quarter when peak winter demand dwindles. It aims to keep crude in a $22 to $28 per barrel target band for a basket of cartel crudes.
The basket, made up mostly of lower quality grades, was valued at $25.02 on Friday, at a $7 discount to US light crude.
The 10 members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) involved in the agreement, excluding Iraq, agreed to cut the output ceiling to 25.2 million bpd from 26.7 million bpd from February 1st.
Reuters