Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has hinted at a possible resistance by Nigeria to any attempt by OPCEC to cut Nigeria’s crude oil production capacity.
Kachikwu defended the Nigeria’s stance on the matter, saying the country needs up until March next year to make sure its production is sustainable.
Two months ago, Kachikwu was quoted as saying that Nigeria was ready to support OPEC’s cuts and limit its crude oil output when it reaches a stable 1.8 million bpd. But the minister has now said to the FT that Nigeria needed more “recovery time” to see if that level of production is sustained.
“We have a nine-month exemption period within which to come back to the table,” Kachikwu told FT. “You need that timeframe to see if any recovery is sustainable,” the minister added. He went on to say “They should let us exhaust those nine months and see whether we have been able to establish stability.”
The Joint OPEC-Non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC)—the panel tasked to supervise compliance with the cuts—is meeting in Vienna on September 22 and has expressed its intention to invite Nigeria and Libya to assess their production plans.