KUWAIT - OIL prices will not rise above US$40 (S$60) a barrel levels even if Opec cut output again by more than 2 million barrels a day at its coming meeting in March, a Kuwaiti oil official said in remarks published on Sunday.

Musa Marafie, a member of Kuwait's Supreme Petroleum Council, the top energy decision body, told local daily Annahar there is a huge surplus in the market due to non-compliance of several members with previous cuts.

Opec has agreed to cut production by 4.2 million barrels per day (bpd), about 5 per cent of daily world demand, since September to prop up prices.

The group next meets to set supply policy on March 15 in Vienna. -- REUTERS