No need to change OPEC decision to support oil - Kuwait

Kuwait's oil minister said Tuesday that OPEC should stick by its decision to maintain production levels despite sliding prices, as Brent crude breached the $60 mark. "There is no need for OPEC to change its decision" taken on November 27, Ali al-Omair told reporters outside parliament. "Kuwait believes the decision was correct and we should continue with it," he said, brushing aside calls for the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to take action. The decision was not aimed at triggering "a price war", he added. Brent crude dived to a five-year low under $60 as markets were rocked by shrinking Chinese manufacturing output and turmoil in Russia. Benchmark contract Brent North Sea crude for January delivery slumped to $59.02 per barrel -- the lowest level since May 2009 -- and New York's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January hit a similar low at $54.01. The oil market has plummeted by almost 50 percent since June, dented by OPEC's decision to hold its output ceiling in an oversupplied market. Omair supported a statement by the OPEC secretary general, Abdullah el-Badri, that there was no need for an emergency OPEC meeting to study deteriorating oil prices and global markets. "No country (from OPEC) has so far called for an emergency meeting," Omair said. The minister hinted that oil prices could continue to slide. "Undoubtedly many of the shale oil and sand oil companies are producing at a cost higher that current oil prices," Omair said. "It depends on the capability of these producers to continue pumping at such a low price," he said. Omair said that OPEC pumps around 30 percent of global supplies and "we cannot reduce this level. We took the initiative of keeping production unchanged when we had the capability to produce more." The minister said that "surplus crude supplies are drying up... which shows that things will stabilise. It's a matter of time."