The state handles the issue of oil prices in full transparency as it affects not only national economy but also the savings of ordinary people, Minister of Oil Ali Al-Omair said Sunday during his visit to Al-Farwaniya Governor Sheikh Faisal Humoud Al-Malik Al-Sabah and his meeting with a number of Al-Farwaniya residents.
He admitted that the current oil price decline and the developments on oil markets have gravely impacted the performance of Kuwait Stock Exchange. Al-Omair, also Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs, advised citizens to take precautionary measures to avoid any negative repercussions in the future if the deterioration of oil prices continued.
He pointed out that oil revenues make up 96 percent of the state income.
Kuwait, however, is still able to withstand the current price as it is not much lower than the suggested price of the state budget, Al-Omair said.
The Oil Minister said that OPEC states, including Kuwait, decided to maintain oil output ceiling despite its expected impact on price to keep their shares on the global oil market.
For his part, Kuwait National Petroleum Company's Deputy CEO for Planning and Local Marketing Shukri Abdulaziz Al-Mahrous said that a new system would be applied as of next month to sell diesel and kerosene according to the new prices.
The cabinet has recently cut the subsidy of diesel, kerosene and jet fuel.
The new prices would be applied to diesel and kerosene sold by the retail fueling stations while the wholesale stations which supply factories and industrial businesses with fuel would sell at the previous subsidized prices, he said.
He added that there would be a review to the experiment after application to assess the impact of the decision on the consumption.
Al-Mahrous underlined that even the new price of diesel is still much below that of European countries.
It is sold in Europe at the equivalent of KD 0.300 per liter and in Kuwait will be sold at nearly half of that price, he said.
Meanwhile, Al-Farwaniya Governor Sheikh Faisal welcomed the Minister of Oil and other accompanying state officials. He said that the meeting with Minister Al-Omair is part of a series of meetings organized to bring together state officials and citizens to discuss issues of common interest in full transparency.
Source: KUNA