Too early for Kuwait to consider output hike

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwait will consider its output policy after a Jeddah oil summit but it was too early to talk now of any increase, Kuwaiti Oil Minister Mohammad al-Olaim told Reuters on Saturday on his departure for the Sunday summit.

Kuwait is one of the few OPEC members with spare output capacity that could follow Saudi Arabia's lead in raising production.

The minister was asked if Kuwait will raise its oil output following Saudi's decision to pump more.

"After the meeting in Jeddah when producers and consumers meet I think this will lead us to decide whether we need a closed meeting of OPEC to think about the issue and based on that we will decide what we can do," he replied.

Olaim was asked what he thought was behind near record high oil prices. "Up to now its not fundamentals -- there are other factors," he said, without offering further details.

When asked if OPEC was likely to meet ahead of its scheduled meeting in September, the minister replied: "We will see."

(Reporting by Ulf Laessing)