Price of Kuwaiti crude oil price increased 11 US cents reaching the level of 77.49 US dollars per barrel (pb) in the Thursday trading compared to Wednesday.

Price of the crude, at present, is on an upward track due to the bearish inclination of the rate of the US dollar in the international markets and re?jump of the speculators into the oil market arena, anew, analysts told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA). Conventional market variables and factors, namely the variation between supply and demand are not to be attributed for the new wave of the bullish prices of the crude.

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) says some of the top hot issues remain; high levels of speculation in the energy stock exchanges and global market turmoil.

OPEC is seeking to keep the price of oil barrel between $70?$80 to achieve a balance between interests of producers who need to finance spending on the development schemes and those of the consumers, suffering from downturn largely because of the global financial crisis. The current price of the Kuwaiti crude is within the range targeted by OPEC countries, also a good low compared to the level it reached early this year, $32 pb, down from $136 in July 2008.

Meanwhile, Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) has for the first time cut its term naphtha offer to $13 a ton premium, despite sealing a deal with one buyer at a higher price which would have been normally agreed by others, traders said on Friday. The latest offer has been accepted by three buyers, but their identities were not known, trade sources said.

"KPCs full?range naphtha is especially popular with some petrochemical makers," one trader said.

The sources said that despite the latest acceptance, more termination of the contract may have also taken place after the revision, but this could not be immediately verified. Japanese trading houses Marubeni and Petro?Diamond December?November contracts were terminated recently when the talks were ongoing, traders said. KPCs latest one?dollar reduction from the premium agreed with Taiwans CPC this week, could have been prompted by strong resistance from customers including South Koreas Hanwha and YNCC, Japans Mitsui Chemical and Maruzen as well as Indias Haldia Petrochemicals, traders said. This unprecedented move could affect rival Abu Dhabi National Oil Cos (ADNOC) ongoing term talks, as it usually takes its cue from KPC, Asias second?largest naphtha supplier after Saudi Arabia.

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