Page 14 - AfrOil Week 26

AfrOil PERFORMANCE AfrOil

Saudi Arabia raises concerns

over Nigerian oil production levels

NIGERIA SAUDI Arabia appears to be concerned about the overrun in May.
Nigeria’s willingness to comply with the produc- If Nigeria upheld that pledge, it would be
tion quotas set by the OPEC+ group. on track to produce no more than 1.37mn bpd
According to the government-controlled of oil in July. Bloomberg reported on June 30,
Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Crown Prince though, that the country’s loading programmes
Mohammad bin Salman (MbS) expressed his indicated that exports were on track to average
concerns during a telephone call with Nigerian 1.38mn bpd in July. Export volumes are then
President Muhammadu Buhari on June 29. SPA slated to rise above that level in July, the news
did not reveal many details of the call, but it agency said.
did say that the two leaders had “reviewed the This raises new questions about Nigeria’s
OPEC+ agreement and the ways of co-operation commitment to compliance, Bloomberg said.
to enhance the stability of the oil markets.” Even though the loading programmes include
The crown prince’s overture was almost cer- gas condensate, a light liquid hydrocarbon that
tainly prompted by Nigeria’s status as a habitual is not subject to the quota system, they indicate
violator of production quotas. The West Afri- that the country may be exceeding the limits
can country already had a long track record again. After all, the news agency commented,
of exceeding its allotments by the time OPEC the loading programmes only list exports, which
joined with 10 other crude-producing states in account for less than 100% of the country’s total
late 2016 in a bid to steady world energy markets. production. ™
Since then, it has not changed its habits. Even
after the OPEC+ group imposed additional cuts
in April, in a bid to bring crude prices back up
from historic lows, it continued to overproduce.
The Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee
(JMMC) established by the OPEC+ group has
reported that Nigeria fell short of its targeted
417,000 barrel per day cut for May and June by
180,000 bpd in May.
These numbers led the JMMC to scold Nige-
ria at its most recent meeting on June 18, and
officials in Abuja responded by pledging to
remain within the limits.
They also committed to cut output levels by
an additional 45,000 bpd on average between
June and September in order to compensate for MbS (L) and Buhari (R) met in Saudi Arabia last November (Photo: Guardian.ng)

POLICY
LNA ready to negotiate on

resumption of oil production

LIBYA FORCES loyal to Khalifa Haftar, the leader of Haftar’s forces a “mandate” to start talks with the
the breakaway Libyan National Army (LNA), other sides on resuming crude oil production.
are reportedly ready to negotiate with the Gov- To show goodwill, LNA troops have “reopened
ernment of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli the oil ports,” he said, referring to the coastal oil
on putting an end to the blockade that has kept terminals that have been offline for months.
the country’s oil industry on hold since January. Haftar and his allies also hope to “find solu-
Ahmed Idris al-Senussi, a tribal leader allied tions to ensure oil revenue does not land in the
with the LNA, said on June 30 that he had given hands of terrorist militias,” Al-Senussi added.

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 26 01•July•2020