Opec delivering on agreed oil output cuts: Kuwait

The Opec oil cartel has implemented more than 90% of its agreed output cuts aimed at curbing a glut on world markets, Kuwait's oil minister said on Monday.Opec and non-Opec producers including Russia agreed late last year to reduce output by about 1.8mn barrels per day in a landmark deal that followed a sharp drop in oil prices. "Opec compliance with the output cuts is excellent ... Compliance has reached 92%," said Kuwaiti Oil Minister Essam al-Marzouk, who chairs a committee tasked with monitoring the agreement.Non-Opec producers had delivered on more than half of their pledged production reductions, he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Kuwait City.Marzouk attributed the relatively low non-Opec implementation rate to previously agreed export commitments."We understand that the compliance of non-Opec producers will be gradual through the months of April and May," said Marzouk."We hope for full compliance from all producers," he added.Global oil prices fell from more than $100 a barrel in June 2014 to near 13-year lows of less than $30 in early 2016, hitting the public finances of many oil producing nations.They have since bounced back above $50 following the output cuts that took effect at the start of 2017.US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was down nine cents at $53.77 per barrel in Asian trade on Monday while Brent North Sea slipped five cents to $56.65.The Paris-based International Energy Agency reported last week a compliance rate of 90%  by Opec countries, calling it "a record".The five-member Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee headed by Kuwait will meet in the emirate next month to reassess compliance with the pledged cuts.