Kuwait says US oil stocks falling faster than expected

US crude inventories are falling more than expected in a sign of the success of OPEC and non-OPEC production cuts, Kuwait’s oil minister Essam al-Marzouq told CNBC Arabia on Monday.

“We are now seeing the impact of those cuts (in the first half of the year) as US oil inventories fall by more than expected,” he said.

“Week after week we are seeing a much bigger-than-expected fall in inventories,” he added.

US crude inventories have fallen for a seventh consecutive week in their largest drawdown in nearly a year, according to the government’s Energy Information Administration.

Stocks fell by 8.95 million barrels in the week to August 11, nearly three times analysts’ expectations and the largest draw since the week to September 2.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil producers led by Russia agreed in May to extend a deal to slash production by some 1.8 million barrels per day until March 2018 to stem a glut in oil inventories.