Kuwait Sees Oil Market Drowning in Supply as U.A.E. Cites Shale

Kuwait’s oil minister said the nation’s decision to back an unchanged OPEC production limit last week was to ensure the group preserves market share amid a global glut. Expanding output from U.S. shale supplies helped cause that excess, his United Arab Emirates counterpart said. “Everyone wants you to reduce your production while they increase theirs and drown the market,” Kuwait’s Ali Al-Omair told parliament today, the state-run Kuwait News Agency reported. “We have to maintain our market shares and continue with a production that covers our needs.” U.S. shale producers increased output faster than global demand growth warrants and must help to tackle the resulting surplus, U.A.E. Energy Minister Suhail Al-Mazrouei said on his Twitter account. The two nations joined Saudi Arabia and Qatar in resisting calls to curb output from the other eight members of the Organziation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, five people briefed on the group’s Nov. 27 meeting said. Brent crude plunged 36 percent this year amid speculation some OPEC nations were seeking to preserve market share rather than curb output in response to an excess. Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi mentioned expanding U.S. shale supplies as a reason not to curb output during last week’s meeting, according to Bijan Zanganeh, who holds the same role in Iran. Brent crude slumped 6.7 percent on the day of the meeting, the biggest drop in three years. It traded at $70.69 a barrel in London today, an increase of 15 cents from its close yesterday. West Texas Intermediate retreated 10 percent on Nov. 28. The meeting was held on Thanksgiving. It was up 27 cents at $67.15 a barrel at 1 p.m. in London today. By Maher Chmaytelli