August 5, 2007 KUWAIT CITY -- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) member Kuwait said Sunday that recent record-high oil prices were due to continued growth in the world economy and political instability in major oil-producing regions.
World oil prices this week hit a record high when New York crude prices reached $78.77 per barrel on news of sliding American crude reserves.
Nawal Al Fuzaia, Kuwait's representative at OPEC, told state news agency KUNA that demand was increasing from China, India, and the United States for "petrol products, particularly in the transport sector such as cars, aeroplanes."
OPEC expects that global demand for oil will rise by up to 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) next year, Fuzaia said.
She added prices also rose because of "political instability ... in the Middle East, and the rising tension between the United States and Iran over the Iranian nuclear issue."
Fuzaia declined to predict where prices were likely to go next as it was "difficult to predict oil prices, particularly in the short term," adding that OPEC worked to maintain balance in the market and between producers and consumers.
Kuwait says it has oil reserves of 100 billion barrels, meaning the Gulf Arab state has the world's fifth-largest reserves after Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates.
Kuwait, whose officially-stated oil reserves constitute about 10 percent of global crude reserves, is pumping around 2.4 million bpd, and its oil income contributes to more than 95 percent of public revenues.
Based on the official figure, oil reserves can last for more than 100 years based on current production levels. The emirate produces just under 1 billion barrels of crude, annually.
World oil prices this week hit a record high when New York crude prices reached $78.77 per barrel on news of sliding American crude reserves.
Nawal Al Fuzaia, Kuwait's representative at OPEC, told state news agency KUNA that demand was increasing from China, India, and the United States for "petrol products, particularly in the transport sector such as cars, aeroplanes."
OPEC expects that global demand for oil will rise by up to 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) next year, Fuzaia said.
She added prices also rose because of "political instability ... in the Middle East, and the rising tension between the United States and Iran over the Iranian nuclear issue."
Fuzaia declined to predict where prices were likely to go next as it was "difficult to predict oil prices, particularly in the short term," adding that OPEC worked to maintain balance in the market and between producers and consumers.
Kuwait says it has oil reserves of 100 billion barrels, meaning the Gulf Arab state has the world's fifth-largest reserves after Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates.
Kuwait, whose officially-stated oil reserves constitute about 10 percent of global crude reserves, is pumping around 2.4 million bpd, and its oil income contributes to more than 95 percent of public revenues.
Based on the official figure, oil reserves can last for more than 100 years based on current production levels. The emirate produces just under 1 billion barrels of crude, annually.
