Kuwait’s Oil Minister, Tariq Al-Roumi, stated on Thursday that OPEC is closely observing global oil market developments, including supply and demand dynamics, as well as recent comments made by US President Donald Trump regarding Russian oil.

“We are monitoring the market through OPEC in terms of supply and demand, and we are monitoring the US President’s statements,” Al-Roumi told reporters.

He added that he anticipates oil prices will remain below 72 US dollars per barrel.

The minister described the current market conditions as healthy, noting that demand is growing at a moderate rate.

Oil prices dropped by around 1 per cent on Wednesday, reaching an eight-week low, following remarks from President Trump about progress in discussions with Moscow.

These statements have introduced uncertainty over whether the United States will proceed with additional sanctions on Russia.

President Trump has warned that if there is no progress toward ending the war in Ukraine, further sanctions against Moscow could be imposed.

In a separate development, the US imposed a new 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports on Wednesday, citing New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil.

Meanwhile, the CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Sheikh Nawaf S. Al-Sabah, said the country’s production quota under the latest OPEC agreement stands at 2.548 million barrels per day.

He noted that Kuwait has the capacity to produce more and will utilise this capacity when needed.

“We are producing this quota, and we have a production capacity that far exceeds that, and we use this capacity when necessary,” he told reporters.

On Sunday, OPEC and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, agreed to increase oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September.

This move is the latest in a series of accelerated output hikes aimed at regaining market share.

The increase aligns with market expectations and marks a full and early reversal of the group’s largest round of production cuts, originally amounting to approximately 2.5 million barrels per day, or about 2.4 per cent of global demand.