Kuwait sharply boosts crude production in June after US-Iran deal, source says

Kuwait’s crude oil production rose sharply in June as Gulf oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz began recovering after the US-Iran interim peace agreement, Reuters reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

The OPEC member produced 1.65 million barrels per day in June, up from 580,000 bpd in May, the source said.

Daily output reached as high as 1.9 million bpd in the last 10 days of June, according to the source, who declined to be named.

Kuwait had been producing around 2.5 million bpd before Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz in response to US and Israeli attacks at the end of February.

The disruption forced Kuwait and other Gulf producers, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq, to cut millions of barrels per day of oil output.

The recovery in Kuwait’s production adds to signs that Gulf crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz are normalising, with stranded cargoes gradually clearing the waterway and exporters restoring supply.

Oil prices extended earlier losses on Thursday after the Reuters report. Crude was already trading at its lowest level since late February, before the start of the war.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said on June 18 that it had lifted all force majeure notices issued during the war. A tender document issued a day later showed the company was offering cargoes to buyers.

A spokesperson for Kuwait Petroleum Corporation did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Kuwait was among the Gulf producers most affected by the war-related disruption because it relies almost entirely on the Strait of Hormuz for crude exports.

Unlike Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have alternative export routes, Kuwait was effectively cut off from key markets such as Asia during the halt in flows through the Strait.