KUWAIT: Oil markets have witnessed a remarkable improvement recently due to the historical OPEC+ agreement, said Kuwait’s Oil Minister and Acting Minister of Electricity and Water Dr Khaled Al-Fadhel. This came in a statement Fadhel made after his participation online, Saturday, in the Ministerial Meeting No. 179 of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The minister indicated that there are positive signs of a relative increase and a gradual improvement in global oil demand during the last period.

Fadhel affirmed that Kuwait played a prominent role in reaching this historic agreement, stressing Kuwait’s commitment to reduce its production according to the terms of the agreement, which have a significant impact on the improvement witnessed in the oil markets during the past weeks. He also expected that the OPEC + meeting will result in continued cooperation among all the signatory countries of this agreement because of the common interest of the countries concerned and the global oil industry in general in order to reflect these positive effects on the global economy. On April 13, the OPEC + group agreed to reduce oil production rates by 9.7 million barrels per day as of May 1 for an initial period of two months ending on June 30, 2020.

Libya hostilities

In other news, Kuwait, which supported UN Secretary General’s global ceasefire initiative to focus efforts on combating coronavirus, called Saturday on Libyan warring parties to cease hostilities to end bloodshed of Libyans. The Foreign Ministry, in a statement, called for an end of fighting in Libya and welcomed Egyptian President Abdulfattah Al-Sisi’s initiative to bring warring Libyan parties to table of negotiations.

The negotiations, it said, aimed at reaching a political solution on basis of relevant UN Security Council’s resolutions and outcome of UN-sponsored Berlin Conference in order to preserve unity, independence and territorial safety of Libya, as well as meet aspirations of the Libyan people. Sisi announced the initiative during talks in Cairo with Libyan military commander Khalifa Haftar. The initiative calls for a ceasefire starting June 8, holding UN-supervised election of a Libyan presidential council and drafting a constitutional declaration to regulate elections for later stage, as well as ending foreign interference.

Iraqi FM

Separately, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Dr Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah phoned on Saturday Iraqi counterpart Fuad Baki to congratulate him on the new post. During the phone call, Sheikh Dr Ahmad conveyed the sentiments on behalf of His Highness the Amir, His Highness the Prime Minister, and His Highness the Crown Prince after the completion of formation of the Iraqi cabinet. The foreign Minister also expressed best wishes to the minister and the Iraqi people and government.

Earlier, Iraq’s parliament approved the remainder of Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi’s cabinet and passing the candidates for seven government posts. A total of 247 MPs approved the seven ministry posts that had remained vacant since Kadhimi was sworn in last month. The new posts include oil, trade, foreign affairs, justice, migration and displacement and culture and agriculture ministries, completing the premier’s 22-member cabinet. — KUNA