President Muhammadu Buhari jets out to Saudi Arabia and Qatar today to engage officials of both countries in further talks to ensure stability of oil prices. Nigeria, yesterday, agreed to freeze the country’s crude oil production at 2.2 million barrels per day this month, same as the level recorded in January, in a bid to address the declining price of crude oil in the international market.
The government’s move is a reaction to Saudi Arabia and Russia which have agreed to freeze oil output at near-record levels, the first coordinated move by the world’s two largest producers to counter a slump that has pummelled economies, markets and companies.
Speaking after a meeting with Qatar’s Energy Minister, Mohammed Al Sada and Qatar Petroleum Chief Executive Officer Saad Sharida Al Kaabi in Doha, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, said the decision was in support of the decision of Saudi Arabia and Russia to freeze oil production.
He, however, disclosed that Nigeria was looking for ways to increase crude oil production, not for the purpose of export but for local consumption.
“Nigeria will continue to look at the possibility of increasing production, not to sell it, because we have local consumption that is essential for us. “Right now, we are not even exporting the quantity that OPEC has given us. Demand from domestic refineries is at least 500,000 barrels of oil a day,”
Kachikwu also gave far-reaching recommendations on how Iran and Iraq could regain some of their lost market share due to sanctions and war. He said:
“Countries like Iran and Iraq have been out of the market for a while and if they are to come back you should not freeze them out where they are, you should freeze them at a higher level. By June, we will come very close to tightening the market.”
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