Nigeria will not exceed oil production – Barkindo

OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said Nigeria has no intention of going beyond its oil production target of 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) until the end of March 2018.

Barkindo made this known at the opening of the fourth Joint OPEC-non-OPEC Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) in St. Petersburg, Russia.

He also said Libya has an output target of 1.25 million bpd by December, but it remains a target given the challenges the country faces.

OPEC and some non-OPEC states including Russia agreed in 2016 to cut production by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in a deal that has been extended to March 2018.

Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih said that OPEC 10 other major oil producers remained supportive of conflict-torn Libya and Nigeria as they attempt to recover and increase crude production.

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“Libya and Nigeria, both of which are exempt from our agreement [on oil output cuts] … of course, we remain supportive of our brothers and partners in both nations as they work on the recovery of their oil industries and their economies,” he said.

He said the market had faced pressure in recent weeks due to weaker OPEC compliance with cuts and rising production from Libya and Nigeria, which have been exempt from the reductions.