Saudi Arabia and Kuwait increased their oil production in August to prevent price hike, Kuwaiti's Oil Minister Mohammad Al-Busairi said Sunday.
The boost came after proposals by the two Gulf countries to raise oil output were rejected by other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at a June meeting, Xinhua reported.
"Without such a measure, the prices of oil would have shot up much higher than the current level and would have caused a global crisis that would boost the global economic recession," Al Busairi said.
Al-Busairi said the price fluctuation was caused by the U.S. and European debt crisis, and the stoppage of Libyan crude exports.
He forecast the prices of oil would remain stable till the end of the year and demand for oil would continue to increase at a rate of 1-1.5 million barrels per day.
He said Kuwait's production did not drop less than 2.8 million barrels per day in August, and the Gulf emirate could contribute up to 3.5 million bpd if demanded by the market.
Kuwait is the fourth largest member of OPEC and is aimed at pushing up oil output to 4 million bpd by 2020.
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