Kuwaiti Oil Minister, Essam al-Marzouq , said that the country’s output cuts could reach between 146,000 and 148,000b/d, which is more than the reduction to which the member of the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) committed itself under December’s global deal among producers, Reuters reported.

Marzouq added: “We used this opportunity to do maintenance at some wells, whether they were at Burgan field or the northern fields,” according to Arab Times. Yet, he was optimistic that oil prices would stay between $55 and $60 a barrel or move even higher if market fundamentals helped.

Marzouq concluded that based on statements by oil producing nations so far, there has been more than 60% compliance with the production cuts specified by the deal.

Furthermore, Marzouq said that Kuwait’s oil investment strategy had not been changed by falling oil prices, and was set at around $120b by 2020, adding: “the fall (of oil prices) was short-term, and these were long-term investments and will have big revenues for the economy.” Additionally, On the privatization of Kuwait’s oil sector, Marzouq said there were some activities which could not be privatized such as exploration and production, but areas related to oil services could be privatized and Kuwait had a plan to do that in the following two to three years.