OpeOluwani Akintayo
22 June 2018, Sweetcrude, Lagos – Despite Nigeria currently in need of more cash to boost its economy, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has said Nigeria is not in support of the proposed increment in crude oil production being suggested by some members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-OPEC producers meeting today and tomorrow in Vienna, Austria.
The minister said this in an interview with journalists on Thursday ahead of the meetings of the OPEC and non-OPEC producers.
According to him, Nigeria would not support such agenda because “the market is not yet ripe for such decisions”.
He added: “I hope we will leave here with at worst, a decision that even if there will be increase, it will be a very very marginal increase.
“I understand that the consensus with the consumers is important and that there is the need for OPEC to see if prices are too high and then to react,” he said.
Members of OPEC and non-OPEC members are currently in Vienna to decide whether or not to increase output quota.
Some countries like Russia, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, who are part of the Declaration of Cooperation, DoC, which began in January 2017 are currently pushing for additional barrels to their quotas.
Saudi Arabia is particularly under pressure from the United States to boost supply since Trump imposed sanctions on Iran.
Saudi Arabia is pushing for an additional 300, 000-600,000 barrels per day of its own.
Iran has said it is not in support of any increase.
