Qatar Petroleum, which exports most of its crude oil output to Asia, has announced that it has slashed July official selling prices, reflecting weak demand for grades usually refined for middle distillates such as diesel.

The publicly -owned company trimmed its July price of Qatar Land crude oil to $65.50 per barrel, down $5.60 compared to June prices.

The July price of Qatar Marine grade was cut down by $5.38 to $64.72 per barrel. The cuts are the first in five months.

Refiners' profits for making diesel, or gasoil, have witnessed a dip below $6 per barrel on a weekly basis in mid-July, the worst since early March.

According to sources, Qatar invested 705,000 barrels per day last month, below its quota of 731,000 barrels per day and capacity of 900,000 barrels per day.

Meanwhile, Kuwait revealed that Opec will keep its crude output target unchanged in its coming meet in September, if oil prices stay at current levels.