Bloomberg
Kuwait City
Kuwait named Deputy Prime Minister Anas al-Saleh as acting oil minister to replace Ali al-Omair (pictured) who became minister of public affairs and retained his role as state minister for parliamentary affairs, according to an official decree.
The change in portfolio comes days before al-Omair was due to represent Kuwait at the meeting of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries on December 4 to discuss the group’s production level amid a slump in prices due to a global glut. Earlier this month, al-Omair swaped the chief executive officers of state companies Kuwait Oil Co and Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co, unit known as Kufpec.
Al-Saleh, born in 1972 and holder of a bachelor degree in business administration from Portland University in the US, is also finance minister, according to the website of the official news agency Kuna.
Kuwait is the fourth-biggest producer in Opec, and pumped 2.82mn bpd of crude in October, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
