Kuwait plans to increase its crude production by 150,000 barrels a day by the third quarter of the year despite the current slump in oil prices, the managing director of international marketing at Kuwait Petroleum Corp. said. Nabil Bouresli said Kuwait plans to sign new export deals with a number of European companies “with good prices and in large volumes” to support the planned hike in production. Kuwait currently produces around 3 million barrels of oil a day, and Mr. Bouresli’s comments suggest Kuwait is planning to stick to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ strategy of increasing production to maintain market share, despite calls from other members for a coordinated cut to prop up sagging crude prices. Gulf OPEC officials have previously said that the organization’s strategy is working, and they want to wait until the next scheduled OPEC meeting in June, when they will have a […]