Oil slips as Kuwait strike ends

Even as Doha talks failed to secure a deal to freeze production at January level, oil price got unusual support from Kuwait, where a strike reduced production by more than a third and brought supply more in line with demand. The strike triggered as pay packages and incentives were cut, amid lower oil price. Three day long Strike, that ended today led to reduction of 1.1 million barrels/day of production. That strike ended today.

After, Kuwait’s oil minister Anas al-Saleh declared that there will be no negations until the strike is called off, protesters issued a statement saying that in honor of highness of Emir, strike is being cancelled and all workers will be working from April 20th and will act to push up production to pre-strike level immediately, which is about 3 million barrels/day.

Despite the end, it is vital to watch out for further disruption if the union and the ministry fail to conclude the negotiations ahead.

With strike gone, global benchmark saw its gains trimmed against WTI. It halved since yesterday and currently trading at $1.5/barrel.

WTI is down from its high but unlike Brent, it is still green for the day.