Kuwait's budget deficit reflects the impact lower oil prices have had on crude exporters, particularly Gulf Arab monarchies that rely on oil revenues to support generous subsidies, welfare benefits and public sector wages.

Monthly average crude oil prices for April rose in all categories of sale. The average domestic crude oil first purchase price increased $3.72 (11.7%), to $35.59 per barrel.

Brent crude futures LCOc1 were trading at $50.31 per barrel at 0441 GMT, almost unchanged from their last settlement. U.S. crude CLc1 were down 5 cents at $48.94.

“Indeed, youth seeds yield high crops. Our program activities were developed as pilots, but they are also a source of good practices and lessons to be used as a rich ground for the development of new joint World Bank and donor partners projects,”

Brent crude LCOc1 was down 48 cents a barrel at $50.13 as of 0856 GMT, having risen in the two previous sessions. U.S. crude CLc1 was down 48 cents to $49.40.

Brent crude futures were trading at $48.84 per barrel at 0422 GMT, up 26 cents from their last settlement. U.S. crude was up 35 cents at $48.20 a barrel.

Brent crude futures were down 15 cents at $48.26 a barrel by 0238 GMT on Monday, after settling down $2.50, or 4.9 percent, at $48.41 on Friday. U.S. crude was down 25 cents at $47.39 a barrel, after closing down $2.47, or 4.9 percent, on Friday.

U.S. crude was down $2.77 at $47.34 a barrel at around 0314 GMT. Brent crude was down $2.75 at $48.16 a barrel.

"We have such low production costs that we will always be able to cut the selling price by a dollar or two when it comes to fighting off a rival," said a senior source at Gazprom.

Supply and demand for oil are coming back into balance, and the response of shale producers to rising prices will help determine how high crude can go, Christof Ruehl, the global head of research at Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, said Wednesday in an interview in Dubai. Ruehl’s view that the re-balancing will take until at least the middle of 2017 contrasts with the more optimistic outlook of some industry leaders and analysts who foresee demand nearing supply by the end of this year.

With income falling, the 13 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) posted a combined current account deficit of $99.60 billion in 2015, compared with a surplus of $238.10 billion in 2014.

Brent crude futures were up 4 cents at $50.66 a barrel, after settling down 3 cents at $50.62 on Tuesday.

The U.S. crude benchmark rose 2.9% to settle at $49.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the global Brent contract gained 3% to end at $50.65 a barrel on the ICE Futures Europe. Both contracts were rebounding after a six-day losing streak.

The California-based fund manager, which is among the largest shareholders of natural resources groups including BP Plc, Total SA, Glencore Plc and Chevron Corp. through dozens of funds, believes that $50 a barrel isn’t high enough to stimulate the increase in supply needed to meet future oil demand.

Brent crude futures' front-month contract LCOc1 settled up$1.98, or 4.2 percent, at $49.17 a barrel. The front-month in U.S. crude's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 rose $1.77, or 3.8 percent, to settle at $47.98. It fell $1.80 in the previous session.