OPEC Slashes Crude Production, Raises Nigeria’s Output

Members and non-members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, referred to as OPEC+, have globally slashed crude production.

Naija News learnt that this was made known at the 35th Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee Meeting of OPEC held in Vienna, Austria, on Sunday.

According to Bloomberg, Saudi Arabia, a major oil producer and key member of OPEC, made an additional voluntary cut of one million barrels of oil per day as part of a deal struck after hours of tense haggling.

OPEC agreed to cut crude oil production volumes in order to ensure global oil market stability, but allowed Nigeria, Congo and Angola to continue to produce maximally to their OPEC quota of 2023.

Also, Nigeria, Congo and Angola have agreed that the highest production volumes of the last six months from November 2022 to April 2023 should be used as the basis for the determination of their 2024 production quota.

The Saudi Energy Minister, Abdulaziz bin Salman, in a statement, said the county’s reduction move is the most meaningful part of the deal, which also includes an agreement to extend voluntary cuts through 2024.

The Nigerian head of delegation to the meeting reportedly said in a statement that OPEC had also agreed to allow these countries to continue to produce maximally to their OPEC quota of 2023.

Nigeria’s highest crude oil production of 1.38 million barrels per day was achieved in February 2023. But by the latest development, Nigeria can ramp up its production up to its current OPEC quota of 1.74 million barrels per day and subsequently be capped at 10 per cent less as its quota for 2024, subject to verification by independent secondary sources.

The statement said the Nigerian delegation was confident that the ongoing security intervention under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu would enable the restoration of country’s production to 1.58 million barrels per day and would be complimented by condensate of about 400,000 barrels per day.

“This will ultimately enable Nigeria’s crude oil and condensate production of about two mmillion barrels per day in 2024,” the statement added.

Crude Oil prices were already trading up ahead of the meeting, but increased on Friday afternoon, bringing Brent crude to $76.32 at 4:20pm, a $2.06 per barrel increase on the day.