Breaking news: Nigeria’s woes continue as OPEC members fail to agree on crude prices
Henry jex blog
– Iran withdraws from meeting with other OPEC members
– Late meeting ends in stalemate, reports say next decision to be taken in June
– Nigerians may continue to groan under hardship
Nigeria’s petroleum minister, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, arriving for the meeting on Sunday, April 17.
Nigeria’s oil challenges are not anywhere near the end if reports from Doha, Qatar are anything to go by.
Reuters reports that the talks among OPEC members states on fixing a cap that would increase the prices of crude ended in a stalemate as member countries could not reach a compromise.
Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada, the Qatari energy and industry minister informed on the evening of Sunday, April 17, that there was need for more time to make consultations before a new deal is arrived.
Members of the Middle East-dominated OPEC, it was also gathered, plan to negotiate among themselves, before presenting a more united position to those outside the group.
READ ALSO: US importing Nigerian crude oil again?
Nigeria, Russia and Saudi Arabia are among the 18 member countries that participated in the meeting and according to a leaked draft of a final agreement, the consensus would be made to cap production at January 2016 levels.
However, the talks met a brick wall when Saudi Arabia demanded that regional rival Iran also freeze its own output.
On its part, Iran, which had planned to send a delegation to the meeting before pulling out at the last moment, noted that it does not intend to curtail production after suffering years of recently-lifted EU and US nuclear sanctions.
Saleh al-Sada, who spoke with respect to this decision, said: “We respect Iran’s position, and will continue negotiations.”
Speaking also was Alexander Novak, Russia’s energy minister, “Some OPEC countries decided to change their terms at the last moment, trying to get concessions from countries that are not here. We were insisting on trying to concentrate on the countries which are.
READ ALSO: Infographics: Naira exchange rate fluctuations as oil prices rise
“We were expecting more, and we were expecting a deal, rather than heated discussions. But we believe the door remains open.”
This latest development comes as huge blow to the Nigeria’s hopes of having the prices fixed following its downward slope all year.
Nigeria’s petroleum minister, Ibe Kachikwu, had also expressed optimism about the meeting.
During a recent interview in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, Kachikwu had said: “I expect that we will reach a conclusion on stabilization, stabilize current production as of January.”
This report is also coming after Nigeria lost Africa’s top spot in oil production to Angola.
The development follows a drop in the country’s crude oil production. Output reportedly fell by 67,000 barrels per day last month, latest data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries have shown.
OPEC, in its monthly Oil Market Report for April, which was released on Wednesday, put crude oil production from Nigeria at 1.677 million bpd in March based on direct communication, down from 1.744 million bpd in February.
The Punch reports that Nigeria recorded the biggest drop in output last month, among its peers in OPEC.
Henry jex blog
– Iran withdraws from meeting with other OPEC members
– Late meeting ends in stalemate, reports say next decision to be taken in June
– Nigerians may continue to groan under hardship
Nigeria’s petroleum minister, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, arriving for the meeting on Sunday, April 17.
Nigeria’s oil challenges are not anywhere near the end if reports from Doha, Qatar are anything to go by.
Reuters reports that the talks among OPEC members states on fixing a cap that would increase the prices of crude ended in a stalemate as member countries could not reach a compromise.
Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada, the Qatari energy and industry minister informed on the evening of Sunday, April 17, that there was need for more time to make consultations before a new deal is arrived.
Members of the Middle East-dominated OPEC, it was also gathered, plan to negotiate among themselves, before presenting a more united position to those outside the group.
READ ALSO: US importing Nigerian crude oil again?
Nigeria, Russia and Saudi Arabia are among the 18 member countries that participated in the meeting and according to a leaked draft of a final agreement, the consensus would be made to cap production at January 2016 levels.
However, the talks met a brick wall when Saudi Arabia demanded that regional rival Iran also freeze its own output.
On its part, Iran, which had planned to send a delegation to the meeting before pulling out at the last moment, noted that it does not intend to curtail production after suffering years of recently-lifted EU and US nuclear sanctions.
Saleh al-Sada, who spoke with respect to this decision, said: “We respect Iran’s position, and will continue negotiations.”
Speaking also was Alexander Novak, Russia’s energy minister, “Some OPEC countries decided to change their terms at the last moment, trying to get concessions from countries that are not here. We were insisting on trying to concentrate on the countries which are.
READ ALSO: Infographics: Naira exchange rate fluctuations as oil prices rise
“We were expecting more, and we were expecting a deal, rather than heated discussions. But we believe the door remains open.”
This latest development comes as huge blow to the Nigeria’s hopes of having the prices fixed following its downward slope all year.
Nigeria’s petroleum minister, Ibe Kachikwu, had also expressed optimism about the meeting.
During a recent interview in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, Kachikwu had said: “I expect that we will reach a conclusion on stabilization, stabilize current production as of January.”
This report is also coming after Nigeria lost Africa’s top spot in oil production to Angola.
The development follows a drop in the country’s crude oil production. Output reportedly fell by 67,000 barrels per day last month, latest data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries have shown.
OPEC, in its monthly Oil Market Report for April, which was released on Wednesday, put crude oil production from Nigeria at 1.677 million bpd in March based on direct communication, down from 1.744 million bpd in February.
The Punch reports that Nigeria recorded the biggest drop in output last month, among its peers in OPEC.
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