Core Gulf Arab OPEC members Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are delivering 98 percent of the crude output cuts they have pledged under OPEC deals, Kuwait's oil minister was reported as saying by state news agency KUNA. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was at around 99 percent compliant with its pledges to curb output, KUNA reported Sheikh Ahmad Al-Abdullah as saying Sunday. The three countries plus Qatar form a powerful grouping within OPEC, pumping nearly half the organization's output. They have shouldered most of the 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd) of pledged OPEC output curbs. The Gulf Arab states have stuck most closely to their target output. Overall, OPEC compliance with output curbs has slipped to 68 percent, Sheikh Ahmad said last week. Discipline fell from a record of over 80 percent earlier this year as the oil price rebounded to $75 a barrel in August from a low of $32.40 in December. OPEC agreed to keep its output targets unchanged at a meeting in Vienna last week, the third time this year that it has opted to keep supply steady. The price of oil has lessened OPEC's concern about weak demand and high inventories. Kuwait expects the price of oil to fluctuate between $60 and $80 a barrel until the end of 2009, Sheikh Ahmad reiterated. “Crude oil prices are expected to range between $60 and $80 dollars per barrel until the end of this year, a price accepted by everyone,” he said.
