*Secretary General of OPEC, Mohammed Barkindo in a handshake with Minister of State for Petroleum, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu at the recent Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition in Abuja recently.
Production apprehension has engulfed Nigeria’s oil output following signals of dropping due to rising rig count.
Industry analysts say rig count is the standard yardstick used in measuring a nation’s activeness in exploration and production of crude oil and gas.
For example, last month, the count jumped to 34 from 33 recorded in the previous month, according to data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Besides, upon the additional rig count, Nigeria’s crude oil production witnessed a decline in October, 2018 to 1.75 Million Barrel per day, mb/d from 1.77mb/d recorded in the preceding month.
OPEC report noted that within the period under review, the 15-member OPEC recorded plus 10 in rig count, as it had 568 against 558 recorded in September, 2018.
Additional facts from OPEC also suggest that just as about seven OPEC members including Angola, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, and Qatar -had retained their rig count figures, Algeria recorded a minus three, the only decliner among the OPEC members.
Accordingly, the fresh figures placed Saudi Arabia as member with the highest increase of six followed by Venezuela, and United Arab Emirate, UAE that recorded increases of two respectively.
Gabon and Iraq joined Nigeria in recording just one additional rig count during the period under review.
