Page 2 - Repi Opec News Today

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) sees continued good demand for oil from China in the second half of the year, its chief executive said on Thursday, speaking to Reuters as part of a podcast series hosted by the Al Attiyah Foundation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman praised, during a telephone discussion on Wednesday, their cooperation within the context of the OPEC+ oil producers' group, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

Having been surprised by Saudi Arabia announcing a unilateral 1 million barrels per day cut in oil output for July, oil refiners got more bad news when Saudi Aramco informed Asian customers that prices for July-loading cargoes were going up.

Benchmark oil prices were largely unchanged after Sunday's OPEC⁺ meeting at which Saudi Arabia said it would make a voluntary unilateral cut of 1 million barrels per day for the month of July.

A global shortfall in crude oil supply is set to deepen in the third quarter as the world's top exporter Saudi Arabia pledged extra output cuts from July in a move likely to push Brent towards $100 a barrel by the end of the year, analysts said.

Saudi Arabia's decision to deepen its crude oil production cuts, without matching contributions from its allies, underscores how the market is being skewed by a series of contradictory influences.

OPEC+, the group of leading oil-producing countries, is important for providing stability on global energy markets, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, a day after the group met.

Saudi Arabia has crafted a complex OPEC+ deal with a view to punishing investors that have bet on falling oil prices but could inadvertently lend long-term support to the rival U.S. energy industry, OPEC+ insiders and market watchers said.

Saudi Arabia will make new voluntary cuts as part of an OPEC+ deal, an OPEC+ source told Reuters on Sunday.

OPEC denied media access to its headquarters to reporters from Reuters and other media.