TheCable

Emmanuel Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, says that Nigeria is not opposed to joining OPEC production cuts but that would only happen when the country is back to full production.

“First, our production is still relatively about 1.5 million barrels on an average although we have had spikes, still below the 1.8 catch point,” he said.

“Forcardos has started loading but those are test loading, we still need to repair a lot of the secondary infrastructure that were damaged by militancy. It will take us about six months to get there.

“My projections are that between the six to nine months window, all things being equal, we should get to the figures we had before. When we reach the catch point, the pressure will be on us to join.

“Nigeria is not averse to that because everybody needs to make sacrifices to help price stability on a world wide basis.”

OPEC and non-OPEC oil producers are attending the 172nd OPEC meeting in Vienna to discuss the possibility of extending the oil production cut, possibly by as long as 12 months, to help clear a global inventory overhang and to support crude prices.

OPEC agreed to cut oil production by about 1.8 million barrels per day in December for the first half of 2017.

Already, there are speculations that the production cuts will be extended by nine months but some countries, including Russia, have suggested a duration of 12 months.

“Maintaining the same production cuts through March is a very safe and almost certain option to do the trick. It’s likely we’ll be balanced earlier than later,” Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, said at the opening session of the group’s meeting in Vienna.