Kuwait Appoints New Oil Minister before meet with OPEC

Kuwait on Sunday replaced its oil minister with its current finance minister and deputy prime minister. This decision came just a few days before the scheduled meeting with Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which will be focused on production.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Anas al-Saleh is now acting oil minister, replacing Ali Al-Omair, who is now minister of public affairs and is still current state minister for parliamentary affairs. According to reports, the change in leadership is due to Omair's attempts to change the management structure that run state oil companies. He swapped the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company and the chiefs of Kuwait Oil Company, which drew a lot of opposition.

According to Arab News, Kuwait Petroleum Corp. CEO Nezar Al-Adasani rejected on November Omair's plans to swap the heads of the two companies. Al-Adasani said the minister does not have the authority to make the decision.

According to Reuters the change in leadership doesn't mean the policies of the OPEC member will change, since Kuwait's oil policy is made by the Supreme Petroleum Council of the country. Besides Omair, another change in leadership is the resignation of Electricity, Water and Public Works Minister Ahmad Khaled al-Jassar. He is replaced by Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah al-Mubarak, who is now acting electricity and water minister.

Al-Jassar resigned after being sentenced to jail for illegally approving a $215 million contract that led to heavy losses on the state.

Meanwhile, the latest data shows that Kuwait is producing 2.8 million barrels a day and has 7.0 percent of the oil reserves in the world. This sector contributes to 90 percent of the country's public revenues.

The OPEC meet is scheduled on Friday at Vienna to talk about production. The meeting will reach an agreement whether to keep producing at high levels of cut back as prices are still under $45 per barrel. Kuwait's stand is to keep pumping full out to still have its market share.