Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva has said that the decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut 2 million barrels of crude oil production was a unanimous one.
In a statement titled ‘On OPEC + Decision To Cut Crude Oil Production’ signed personally by the minister on Tuesday, he said the step was taken to stabilize the market and not for any ulterior motives.
“The decision taken by the OPEC+ during our meeting on 5th October, 2022 to voluntarily adjust crude oil production downward by two million barrels per day was unanimous, It was taken for the exclusive purpose of ensuring the long-term stability of the oil market,” He said.
The minister added that this was purely to balance supply and demand, and forestall a degeneration of the current volatile oil market to a situation where larger production cuts will be required fo balance it.
“This proactive decision was based on a thorough assessment of market conditions as OPEC plus has always been guided,” he said.
According to the new production schedule expected to take effect in November, Africa’s largest economy’s quota for November will be reduced to 1.747 million bpd.
Nigeria’s expected output quotas for August, September, and October were 1.826 million bpd, 1.830 million bpd, and 1.826 million bpd, respectively.
The country has struggled to meet previous quotas due to crude theft and waves of divestments by oil majors from onshore and shallow water assets in the country, having lost its top oil producer spot to Angola in the last four months.
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