Add independent Nigerian drillers to the list of oil producers itching to supply more crude at a time when OPEC and allies like Russia are trying to restrict output and prop up prices.
Domestic Nigerian producers are aiming to pump almost 250,000 barrels a day more crude by 2020 as part of a wider plan for the nation to lift output to 2.5 million a day, Oil Ministry data show. Shoreline Group, the third-biggest independent, wants to double output by December with Seplat Petroleum Development Co., the second-largest, also intending to produce more.
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They are planning to add barrels at the same time as Nigeria participates in a global pact to restrict oil supply that’s being led by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and non-member nations including Russia. If any one country relents — and similar internal pressures are bubbling up elsewhere — then the entire deal could come under strain.
“If they can pump more in Nigeria, I don’t see why they wouldn’t,” said Warren Patterson, a commodity strategist at ING Bank NV. “If you get Nigeria exceeding the cap, then you’re going to get others who pump a little bit more. The longer the deal goes on for, the more likely it’s going to fall apart.”…
Africa’s Top Oil Producer Poised to Give OPEC an Output Headache
