Essam al-Marzouq, Kuwait Oil Minister

DOHA, March 13, (RTRS): Kuwait will support the extension of a global deal to cut oil supply beyond June, the country’s oil minister said on Monday as the market needs more time to rebalance. “Kuwait supports the extension of the deal beyond June ... as it will speed up rebalancing of the market and will help bring prices to acceptable levels for oil-producing nations and the industry in general,” Essam Al-Marzouq was quoted as saying by state news agency KUNA. Marzouq said Kuwait would discuss with other oil ministers the possibility of extending the deal as “the rebalancing process is not easy and requires more effort and time.”Preliminary data was “very positive”, Marzouq said and showed that compliance in February had increased to 95 from 91 percent. “There is a cut of 1.2 million barrels per day according to secondary sources,” he said. Marzouq said he was confi dent about the commitment to compliance by all countries that had agreed to the deal, which he said would “pay off in the next few months.” He blamed the rise of US oil stocks for a drop in prices last week.