| Kuwait plans to increase oil output by 200,000 barrels per day. "We will have an additional output of between 180,000 and 200,000 barrels per day," Kuwaiti Oil Minister Ahmad Fahd Al Sabah said. Fahd said he did not expect the increased production to prompt a reduction in prices, Middle East Newsline reported. The minister said the rise in oil prices — which have exceeded $50 per barrel — stemmed from "international concern resulting from political factors." Kuwaiti officials said the additional production would begin by November when an oil well and facility was scheduled to resume operations. Kuwait has been producing 2.5 million barrels of oil per day. |