Nigeria is joining Saudi Arabia in warning OPEC+ to stay cautious regarding oil supply and demand.
Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva commented that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) should not be carried away by the higher crude prices and pressures to raise output at the moment as there are still risks of a plunge in demand.
“We have to look at the situation closely before we take action. It is still very fragile. We must be very cautious before we take the next move,” Sylva said.
Previously on Saturday, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman advised oil producers not to take the rise in prices for granted because the coronavirus could still hit demand.
On the same day, some Chinese officials predicted that this week, the coronavirus infections rate would increase in the country.
Reacting to this, Sylva elaborated, “We have seen the slow down in China. A lot of people are calling for more oil, but we are looking at problems in some economies. We know that we have not completely opened up yet.”
In Nigeria, some oil producers are having some technical issues in raising output to even meet its OPEC+ quota. The country produces 1.4 million bpd of crude, lower than its target of 1.6 million.
