A star indications that Nigeria’s economy is set to sustain recovery from recession emerged Friday following the meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC members which ended in Vienna with an endorsement of Nigeria’s exemption from oil cuts policy.
The cut exemption was granted Nigeria at the November 2016 ministerial conference and extended in May this year with the aim of assisting Nigeria stabilise its crude oil production.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe kachukwu had argued that although its production recovery efforts had made some appreciable progress since October last year, it was not yet out of the woods.
Besides, development economists had argued that stabilizing oil prices above $50 played the most roles in exiting the economy from recession and not merely policies of the government.
Business Hilights gathered that The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, told the meeting that even though Nigeria hit 1.802 million barrels per day in August 2017, that was not enough justification for a call by some countries for it to be brought into the fold.
A statement issued by the spokesperson for the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Idang Alibi, said the minister emphasised that Nigeria, as one of the older members of OPEC, would continue to work for the good of the organisation and its member countries.
However, Kachikwu also agreed that Nigeria would respect whatever agreements and resolutions were collectively made by the organization, stressing that Nigeria will be prepared to cap its crude production when it has stabilised at 1.8 million barrels per day.
NNPC averred in the statement that “The meeting noted that overall compliance by OPEC and non-OPEC participating countries with the agreement on crude oil production cut for the month of August was 116 per cent, the highest since the agreement came into effect on January 2017.
“It further noted that the objectives of the accord were steadily being achieved with the gradual drawdown of inventories by nearly 50 per cent since the agreement came into effect,” Alibi noted.
