Nigeria has given assurance of its total commitment to the full implementation of the Agreement entered into by OPEC and 10 Non-OPEC Member States also known as the OPEC plus or the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) Countries. In a tele-conference with the Chairman of the OPEC-Non-OPEC Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) and Minister of Energy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud and some other DoC Ministers over the weekend, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Head of its Delegation to the OPEC Conference, Timipre Sylva, recalled his assurance to the last meeting of the JMMC held in September, in Abu Dhabi, that Nigeria would, within three months, be one hundred percent compliant with the Agreement that it had voluntarily entered into, noting that in fulfilment of that pledge, Nigeria’s compliance level has witnessed tremendous progress, month by month, since last August resulting in one hundred percent compliance in November 2019.
Minister Sylva commended member countries of the DoC that have consistently met and even exceeded their targets of production cuts, attributing the successes achieved in bringing stability to the oil market to the whole group, but especially due to the extra efforts of these countries. He particularly commended the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the extra burden it has taken on its own volition to help stabilize the global oil market. He thanked Prince Abdulaziz and the Government of the Kingdom for the exemplary leadership role they have been playing in the DoC.
On his part, Prince Abdulaziz commended Nigeria for the efforts it has made since August to ensure compliance, noting that the Agreement came into effect at the same time when Nigeria’s Egina was coming on-stream.
OPEC Ministers are expected to meet in Vienna next week to review developments in the global oil market for the first half of 2020 and take some critical decisions affecting the oil industry and by implication the global economy. The first decision is on the fate of the current Agreement which expires on 31st March 2020. The Organisation has to decide whether to renew it or not; if it is to be retained, decision has to be taken on the need for modification or allow it to stand as it is.The second decision is: Given the outlook for the oil market in the first and second quarters of 2020, where demand is forecast to dampen while production from non-DoC members is forecast to rise, experts believe that the DoC Countries need to make deeper cuts to sustain the stability that they have been able to bring to the market.
The JMMC is expected to meet in Vienna on 5thDecember, and the OPEC Ministerial Conference same day. The OPEC-NON-OPEC Ministerial Meeting is expected to take place on Friday 6th December in Vienna.
Garba Deen Muhammad
GGM/Special Adviser on Media
Office of the Honorable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources
Abuja, Nigeria
1st December, 2019
