Sylva said this in a statement on Tuesday entitled “On OPEC
+ Decision to Cut Crude Oil Production.”
He said that the step was taken to stabilise the market and
not for any ulterior motives.
Sylva said the decision which was taken by OPEC+ during its
ministerial meeting on Oct. 5, to voluntary adjust crude oil production
downward by two million barrels per day was unanimous.
He said it was taken for the exclusive purpose of ensuring
the long-term stability of the oil market.
“It was purely to balance supply and demand, and forestall a
degeneration of the current volatile oil market to a situation where larger
production cuts will be required to balance it.
“This proactive decision was based on a thorough assessment
of market conditions as OPEC plus has always been guided,” he said.
Members of OPEC and their Russia-led allies had earlier this
month agreed on a major cut in oil production, a move to prop up prices that
could bolster sanction-hit Moscow’s coffers and irk Washington.
Nigeria is a strong member of OPEC as the country pumps over
1.4 million barrels of crude daily, though this figure has crashed due to the
activities of vandals and oil thieves in the Niger Delta.
The 13-nation OPEC cartel and its 10 Russian-led allies
agreed to reduce two million barrels per day from November at a meeting in
Vienna.
It is the biggest cut since the height of the COVID-19
pandemic in 2020.
Such a move could turbocharge crude prices, further aggravating
inflation which has reached decades-high levels in many countries and is
contributing to a global economic slowdown.
It could also give Russia a boost ahead of a European Union
ban on most of its crude exports later this year and a bid by the group of
seven wealthy democracies to cap the country’s oil prices.
US President Joe Biden personally appealed to Saudi leaders
in July to boost production in order to tame prices which soared following
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
But crude prices have fallen in recent months on concerns
over dwindling demand and fears over a possible global recession.