Kuwait raised its crude oil production to 2.1 million barrels per day in October, the highest level since the outbreak of the Iran war and an increase of over 300,000 bpd from September, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The rise came despite a record number of attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, adding to signs that Persian Gulf oil producers are maintaining or increasing output as they adapt to the disruption risks.
The person asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly about Kuwaiti production.
A spokesperson for state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corporation did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Kuwait's production in September was about 1.77 million bpd, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on October 2.
Preliminary data from commodities data and analytics firm Kpler shows Kuwait exported about 880,000 bpd of crude in October, up from 809,000 bpd in September.
Tracking gulf crude exports has become more difficult in recent months as some producers have shipped oil through the Strait of Hormuz on tankers with their tracking signals switched off, obscuring movements amid concerns about detection and potential attacks.
Production in February, before the US-Israeli war with Iran broke out, was nearly 2.6 million bpd. The start of the war in late February disrupted oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, prompting Kuwait and other Middle East producers to cut output.
(Reporting by Ahmad Ghaddar; Editing by Alex Lawler, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Jan Harvey)