Lagos — Saudi Arabia has demanded greater adherence to oil production cuts by Nigeria in a bid to balance global oil markets and shore up prices, a Nigerian government statement said late Wednesday.
Not registered?
Receive daily email alerts, subscriber notes & personalize your experience.
Register Now The kingdom had sent Ahmad Qattan, Minister of State for African Affairs and Special Envoy of King Salman Bin Abdulaziz to Abuja to meet with Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, to press Nigeria on compliance with the current OPEC/non-OPEC agreement.
Buhari said he assured the Saudi envoy that even though it was a difficult decision for Nigeria to cut output, it would cooperate and step up its compliance to the cuts.
Buhari said Nigeria, which is still struggling to get its oil production back to levels of 2.2 million b/d, would wish that there was no need for output cuts but acknowledged there was need to support oil prices.
“I have listened carefully to the message. I will speak with [Nigeria’s oil minister Emmanuel Kachikwu], I will call for the latest production figures. I know that it is in our interest to listen,” Buhari said.
Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Khalid al-Falih had said earlier on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia had received pledges of commitment from OPEC members whose production was still above their quota under the latest production cut deal, which came into effect from January 1.
“I have been speaking to many ministers and those who have been slow in achieving their targets in January have all committed to getting quickly into position to meet their commitment through six months,” Falih added.
NIGERIA’S WEAK COMPLIANCE
Nigeria’s compliance with the cuts has started off on a weak note. Africa’s largest crude producer pumped 1.79 million b/d in January, according to an average of the six secondary sources that OPEC uses to gauge production. This is well above its quota of 1.69 million b/d.
Ministry officials insist some of the country’s crude should be categorized as condensate, which is not subject to production limits.
The West African country is expected to see its crude production capacity rise by almost 10% this year following the startup of the 200,000 b/d offshore Egina field right at the end of last year.
Nigeria’s 2019 budget submitted to parliament by President Buhari last December was based on an oil output benchmark of 2.3 million b/d as the government sought to increase revenue.
The country’s crude production average 1.86 million b/d last year, according to data from S&P Global Platts.
