The price of Nigeria’s Bonny Light, yesterday, rose to $121.4 per barrel, from $118 per barrel, recorded last Thursday, in the global market, apparently the highest in recent times.
This showed $79.4 per barrel over the nation’s $62 per barrel budget 2022 benchmark, which was also based on 1.8million barrels per day, including condensate.
The current market situation was attributed to a disruption in supply following moves to ban Russian oil by the European Union and increasing demand around the world.
Experts believe the relatively high price of oil will go a long way to swelling the nation’s Excess Crude Account (ECA), while the government will spend more to import petrol for domestic consumption.
But the country might not be in a position to meet its 1.772million barrels per day quota of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) due to increased oil theft and illegal refining in the Niger Delta.
However, in its statement, OPEC had maintained, “Following the conclusion of the 28th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, held via videoconference on 5th May, it was noted that continuing oil market fundamentals and the consensus on the outlook pointed to a balanced market. It further noted the continuing effects of geopolitical factors and issues related to the ongoing pandemic.
“The OPEC and participating non-OPEC oil-producing countries, therefore, decided to reaffirm the decision of the 10th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting on 12th April, 2020, and further endorsed in subsequent meetings, including the 19th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting on the 18th July, 2021.
“Reconfirm the production adjustment plan and the monthly production adjustment mechanism approved at the 19th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting and the decision to adjust upward the monthly overall production by 0.432mb/d for the month of June, 2022, as per the attached schedule.
“Reiterate the critical importance of adhering to full conformity and to the compensation mechanism, taking advantage of the extension of the compensation period until the end of June, 2022. Compensation plans should be submitted in accordance with the statement of the 15th OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting.”
In an interview with newsmen, the National President, Oil and Gas Service Providers Association of Nigeria (OGSPAN), Mazi Colman Obasi, who lamented the inability of Nigeria to meet the OPEC quota, said the oil market will continue to be unstable in the coming months until the end of Ukraine-Russian war.
He called for increased diversification and investment in the gas sector in the spirit of the energy transition, currently sweeping across the globe.
Speaking recently at the Seplat Energy tree planting event in Abuja, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, who commented on oil market instability, had said that gas would be the pathway to clean energy, which was why the government was committed to creating a lot of opportunities for local operators to leverage.
He had said, “The Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, will enable a vast amount of gas projects but it behoves operators in the industry to also take advantage of the opportunity provided by the PIA to deepen the gas business in Nigeria.
“And to achieve that, we have declared the year 2021 to the year 2030 as the decade of gas and we are not just declaring it, we are creating a road map to achieving the decade of gas.”