FG pushing for freeze in oil production levels -Kachikwu

Minister of Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu said Tuesday that Nigeria is taking the lead in a global effort aimed at freezing the level of oil production.

This, he said, comes ahead of an extraordinary summit of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) planned for later this month. He spoke in Abuja at a meeting with journalists.

“I have been in the forefront of driving that change and I’m glad that we are making progress,” Kachikwu said in response to a question on what he thinks of the call for a production freeze by OPEC to drive up crude prices.

“If we do get a consensus … I think it will be very dramatic in terms of its impact on the price of crude,” Kachikwu said.
Crude prices, which have fallen more than 60 percent since June 2014 because of a large supply surplus, have picked up since mid-February over a proposal by leading producers Saudi Arabia and Russia, as well as Qatar and Venezuela, to agree to freeze their output at January levels to stem falling prices.

Read also: Nigeria loses N1trn yearly to crude oil production

Kachikwu said there were ongoing moves to build consensus on the production freeze ahead of the OPEC meeting despite the reluctance of Iraq and Iran to commit themselves to specific volumes.

“I wouldn’t worry about that if two out of about 40 which includes non-OPEC members decides to scale out, perhaps we can still achieve the effect that we want,” Kachikwu said.

The Buhari-led administration is at present cash-strapped, prompting government to curtail imports while hoping that oil prices stabilize reasonably to drive its various economic programmes.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now