The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said that Nigeria could make the most of her exemption from oil production cap agreed by member countries of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC countries, by working hard to reduce the cost of producing a barrel of oil from her fields.

Speaking in an interaction with THISDAY in Vienna during the 173rd meeting of OPEC countries, and the third meeting of the OPEC and its non-OPEC allies where a decision was made to extend the oil production cut they agreed in December 2016, Kachikwu, explained Nigeria was losing its competitiveness amongst other oil producers with its high production cost. According to him, the country currently produced oil at between $23 and $24 per barrel, and that it was not competitive when compared to other producers like Saudi Arabia and Iran. He noted that this would have to come down for her to fully maximise the output exemption given to her by the group.