OPEC+ Would Face Hurdles to Fast Ramp Up, Nigeria’s Kyari Says
OPEC+ Would Face Hurdles to Fast Ramp Up, Nigeria’s Kyari Says
(Bloomberg) -- OPEC+ would faces challenges to quickly pump more oil if a decision was taken to do so, according to the head of Nigeria’s state energy company.
That “may not be very, very realizable” and the financing needed for more development is lacking, Mele Kyari, managing director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Tuesday. “Even if we were to move, it probably could be a bit difficult to do that.”
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, have signaled they will resist calls to pump faster. That’s left the Biden administration considering a release from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to tackle soaring U.S. gasoline prices.
Such a release by the U.S. would likely have a marginal and short-term effect, according to Kyari. “Obviously there has to be significant releases from the SPR for it to make any meaningful change,” he said.
OPEC+ next meets on Dec. 2 after crude prices climbed about 60% this year to $80 a barrel. Several energy executives and leaders such as Vladimir Putin are saying they could get to $100. Oil prices will probably hold above $80 a barrel, while the $100 mark is “within sight,” Kyari said.
Production is steadily returning in Nigeria, he said. By the end of the year, oil output should reach as much as 1.8 million barrels a day, and would easily hit 2 million barrels when condensate -- a light hydrocarbon -- is included in the total.
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