The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, has stated that under the incumbent government, Nigeria remains committed to adhering to the production quota established by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
OsunDailyNG understands that during the ministerial meeting with the federal government on June 2, 2023, OPEC raised Nigeria’s production target to 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) for the year 2024.
The organization indicated that Nigeria is expected to sustain this production level until December 2025.
Nevertheless, Nigeria has been operating below this quota, with a monthly average production of 1.4 million barrels per day, excluding condensate, throughout this year.
However, following OPEC’s 56th Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meeting yesterday, Lokpobiri reiterated Nigeria’s unwavering dedication to the goals outlined in the organization’s declaration of cooperation.
He said, “While we continue to ramp up production in line with our national interests, we are doing so within the framework of OPEC’s guidelines, as we remain committed to balancing responsible production with our economic goals and continue to meet our obligations.”
At the meeting, the oil cartel and its allies, known as OPEC+, retained its oil output policy, including a plan to raise output in December, OsunDailyNG reports.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has committed to supplying 272,500 barrels of crude oil per day to settle loans totalling $8.86 billion through a series of crude-for-loan agreements.
This means approximately 8.17 million barrels of crude oil will be used each month to fulfill various debt obligations.
This allocation is based on reports from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and NNPCL’s financial statement.
Key projects tied to these deals include Project Panther, Project Bison, Project Eagle Export Funding, Project Yield, and Project Gazelle.
According to The PUNCH’s findings, NNPCL has repaid $2.61 billion of its total loan portfolio, leaving a balance of $6.25 billion.
Despite the total $8.86 billion credit facility, only $6.97 billion has been disbursed across seven crude-for-loan deals.
