Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
French oil and gas firm, Total’s Egina, will be responsible for almost 40 percent cut as Nigeria plans to achieve full compliance with the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) cut extension.
Nigeria was one of the laggard countries that did not meet its target of shutting in 417,000 barrels per in the month of May.
However, OPEC+ agreed to extend cuts by 9.7 million barrels per day for the next one month and the country pledged to make up for cuts missed last month.
The agreement will be reviewed every month until December.
The meeting held last Saturday was to force countries with low compliance, Nigeria inclusive to comply fully.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylvia, confirmed and said the country make up for its slackness by producing lesser in July through September.
“Nigeria subscribes to the concept of compensation by countries who are unable to attain full conformity (100 percent) in May and June to accommodate it in July, August and September,” he said at the weekend.
With this, the new field, Egina will bear the largest burden of cuts in Nigeria, shouldering around 40 percent cuts on behalf of the country.
With this, the country will produce 1.6 million barrels per day in June.
Egina in May produced about 131,000 barrels per day of crude in May, this is 33 percent less than April’s production averaged 201,000 barrels per day.
With this, Egina June’s output will go lower to 122,000 barrels per day.
The cut will not affect the firm’s other fields – Akpo, which still produces around 100,000 barrels per day as it produces mostly condensates, which are exempted from the cuts.
According to the OPEC+meeting’s draft communique, any member that does not implement 100 percent of its production cut in May and June will make extra reductions from July to September to compensate for their failings.
Commenting on this, Secretary-General of OPEC, Mr Mohammad Barkindo, said, “The productions adjustments agreed in April are by far the largest and longest in the history of OPEC, OPEC+ and the global oil industry.
“The unparalleled commitment, and the unity and courage for the common cause of oil market stability has been positive.”
