Tag Archives: Oil Production

Drop In Oil Production Bad For Nigeria’s Economy- Kachikwu

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Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has identified seven key implementation strategies to boost the petroleum industry and enhence export of refined products by 2019.
Kachikwu, who spoke at the Presidential Quarterly Business Forum between the Private Sector and the Economic Management Team (EMT) in Abuja on Monday, listed policy and regulation; business environment and investment drive; transparency and efficiency; stakeholder management and international coordination as of primary concerns of the ministry.
Represented by Mr Johnson Awoyemi,, the Senior Technical Adviser of the ministry, the Minister identified peace and security in the Niger Delta region as being crucial in the programme.
Others, according to him, include engaging in gas revolution as well as increasing refineries and local production capacity.
“Oil and gas will drive diversification but the drop in oil production to 1.56 billion barrels per day from the annual estimate of 2.2 billion barrels per day will negatively affect growth.’’
The Minister stressed the need to empower the Niger Delta region and ensure peace in the region by stopping militancy and enhancing the attainment of national aspirations in oil and gas production.
Kachikwu said that several companies in the sector are indebted in royalties to the tune of about four billion dollars. He said there was need for policies on oil, gas, downstream and fiscal reform, adding that the proposed petroleum industry bill (PIB) had become very imperative.
Kachikwu said there were challenges in the oil and gas sector which led to drop in the nation’s GDP growth from 6 per cent to 4 per cent, stressing that this had led to shortage of funds for providing critical infrastructure.
He explained that the 29 per cent decline in oil production has resulted in the loss of 700,000 million barrels per day.

Read More: sunnewsonline

Nigeria Rules Out Cutting Oil Production In Isolation Of OPEC

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Nigeria said wednesday it would not cut oil production outside the framework of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), even as nose diving crude prices caused by a global supply glut have ravaged its revenue.

US crude oil prices fell below $30 a barrel on Tuesday, prompting Nigeria, an OPEC member country, to call for an emergency meeting to address collapsing prices that have drained the coffers of Africa’s largest economy.

Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, said in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday that he expected an extraordinary meeting of the global oil cartel in “early March” to discuss the continued plunge in prices.

His push for an emergency meeting was however opposed by the United Arab Emirates, which like Saudi Arabia has resisted calls for production cuts by the oil cartel in order to retain market share.

But until the meeting is formally confirmed, Nigeria can do little in response to the collapsing price of crude, said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) head of marketing, Mr. Mele Kolo Kyari.

“Nigeria cannot stop the prices of crude from going down,” he told AFP in Abuja.

“The easiest thing to do is to control production but Nigeria can only do that through the OPEC framework and the last OPEC meeting did not agree to cut down production.

“So influencing the price through production is now out of the question.”

Saudi-led Gulf exporters within OPEC have so far refused to cut production to curb sliding prices, seeking to protect their market share despite a heavy blow to their revenues.

Credit: ThisDay