OPEC plus Ready to cut oil output, Sylva explains hike in fuel price

Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies called OPEC plus say they would be ready to cut crude production in order to prevent another slump in prices.

At the close of a virtual meeting of the joint ministerial monitoring committee, OPEC plus pointed out that participating countries need to be vigilant, proactive and be prepared to act when necessary to the requirements of the market.

The OPEC plus GMMC also turned down an informal request from Nigeria to re-evaluate the baseline from which its crude output cuts are calculated citing that change to oil quota could lead to a collapse in the market.

Meanwhile, OPEC plus is expected to finally decide on the output at their last meeting for 2020 coming up between November 30 and December 1, 2020.

In response to the recent fuel price development, Nigeria’s minister of state for petroleum, Timipre Sylva has noted that the government is no longer concerned with the business of fixing pump price and that the action is what the government means by deregulation and stepping back from subsidy.

He noted also that the government is fully aware that this action may result in some increase but it is important for the deregulation to take place because it is clearly impossible for government to continue to subsidize petroleum products in Nigeria.

The Federal government had earlier announced a new pump price band for petroleum products raising depot price of premium motor spirit (PMS) to N155.17 per liter making product marketers to sell between N165 to N175 per liter to users.

Against the backdrop of the criticisms that has trailed the development, the Minister of state for petroleum, Timipre Sylva in the meantime has reacted attributing the hike in price to the fluctuations in the global crude oil prices.

The Nigeria Labour congress (NLC) on the other hand has called for an immediate reversal of the recent hike in the pump price of petrol saying that the price hike is worsening the level of anguish on citizens.

Speaking on behalf of the union, its president, Ayuba Wabba, explained that the increase was not part of the agreement reached at a series of meeting between the organized labour movement and the federal government in September.