Kuwait reappoints Mohammed al-Fares as oil minister

Mohammed al-Fares retained his role as Kuwaiti oil minister following the formation of a new government on Aug.1 amid rising pressure on the country to raise oil supplies as part of its OPEC+ agreement.

Fares will be leading the Kuwaiti delegation in discussions on oil supply at the OPEC+ meeting on Aug. 3.

The oil minister is expected to hold his position for "another two or three months", a source told S&P Global Commodity Insights.

The development follows the appointment on July 15 of the emir's son Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf al-Sabah as the new Kuwaiti prime minister, easing the political deadlock instigated by the dissolution of parliament in June. Kuwait plays a significant role in OPEC+, the alliance of oil exporters headed by Saudi Arabia and Russia.

Separately, on Aug. 1 Kuwaiti Haitham al-Ghais assumed the role of secretary general of OPEC following the demise of Nigerian politician Mohammed Barkindo in July.

Kuwait's parliamentary struggles are detrimental to its plans to raise production and output capacity in line with other OPEC+ producers that are tasked with bringing on more supply.

Kuwait produced 2.72 million b/d of oil in June, according to the latest Platts survey.

S&P Global Commodity Insights estimates suggest that Kuwait has under 40,000 b/d of output upside remaining, and the state is quickly running out of output capacity.

The country also has additional potential to bring on supply from the Neutral Zone it shares with Saudi Arabia, but technical difficulties have so far hampered efforts to fully restore output to pre-shutdown levels.

Kuwait's oil sector has been beset by its political instability, frequent change of government as well as constant reshuffles at the oil ministry and energy institutions.

Without political will and stability, the country has so far struggled to revive the aging giant Burgan field -- the world's second-largest -- which is in decline.