The last week’s sharp decline in commodities and stock markets has a lot of people making half baked statements while others are panicking . We had India’s chief economic adviser thinking that Greece contagion might have had a positive effect on India ,now Kuwait’s oil minister is already thinking of supporting oil prices. It is intriguing to see Kuwait comes out with the first call to support the oil prices.Countries like Oman and others with smaller oil deposits are more exposed budgetary problems due to oil price declines than super rich Kuwait .With a minuscule population they have 8% of the world’s deposit making each Kuwait born with a “oil” spoon in his mouth.
Kuwait Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah al-Sabah said that OPEC should meet ahead of its scheduled conference in October if the price of oil falls below USD 65 a barrel.
Asked when OPEC should act and at what price level, the Kuwaiti minister said “when oil price falls below 65” dollars a barrel.
His Emirati counterpart Mohammad bin Dhaen al-Hamli attributed a slide in oil prices to what he called a price correction.
“What has been taking place is a correction… prices are going up and down,” Hamli told reporters, adding that oil prices were being driven by market forces.
Both ministers are in Doha, Qatar, for the ninth Arab Energy Conference that starts tomorrow.
Oil prices have fallen sharply since late Monday as the dollar struck 14-month highs against the euro on worries about the stability of the eurozone amid the Greek debt crisis.
On Friday, New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for June delivery shed USD 2.00 to USD 75.11 a barrel.