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“Oil prices to stay around $40 a barrel”

A top Kuwaiti oil official says crude oil prices are unlikely to rise above $40 a barrel, even if OPEC decides to effect a production cut of as much as 2 million barrels a day at its meeting next month.

Moussa Marafi, a member of the Supreme Petroleum Council, the highest oil policymaking body in Kuwait, told Annahar newspaper on Sunday that oil prices were being pressured by a surging U.S. crude inventories, quota non-compliance by some OPEC members, and continued pumping by non-OPEC producers.

OPEC members have agreed to cut production by 4.2 million barrels from September levels. But the cuts have failed to support prices, with the March delivery oil contract settling Friday at slightly over $37 a barrel.

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