Kuwait ups oil price to $35.50 a barrel

Kuwait became the latest OPEC producer to raise oil prices, hiking its crude by $4, to 35.50 a barrel. The announcement followed similar moves by other members of the cartel, which agreed to raise prices by 10 percent at the December price fixing meeting. Moderate members, such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, have opted for lower increases.

Kuwait, which produces an average of 1.5 million barrels a day, sells nearly half its oil to the Far East and only small amounts to the US.