Nigeria will cut its daily oil production to 1.41 million barrels per day for May and June in compliance with the directives of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the powerful cartel which controls a huge percentage of global oil output.
The new quota commenced on the first day of May and cut Nigeria’s daily output by 23 per cent. The curbs mean that Africa’s largest producer will cut 417,000 barrels per day of its oil production daily for May and June.
OPEC and other oil producers led by Russia agreed in April to a record output reduction of 9.7 million barrels per day for May and June to prop up oil prices which had fallen to record lows as the coronavirus pandemic led to a precipitous drop in global demand and roiled oil markets.
Nigeria’s junior oil minister Timipre Sylva said Nigeria would continue to abide by OPEC’s directives. “The cut for Nigeria is about 417,000 barrels per day which is about 23 percent of our production. And of course, as at the end of April, we have complied,” he said.