Nigeria’s Petroleum Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu admitted that reducing oil production to the quota assigned by OPEC is a challenge, not least because of the start of production at the Egina oil field. The offshore field will have a capacity of 150,000 bpd but, Kachikwu said, “We’re not there yet.” Still, Nigeria is hoping the oil production cut deal OPEC agreed with its non-member partners led by Russia will be extended for another six months beyond the June deadline, Kachikwu told local media. Interestingly, Nigeria doesn’t have much to do with the success of the deal, which has helped Brent climb to almost US$70. According to Bloomberg data, the West African country pumped some 1.92 million bpd in March, up by 90,000 bpd from February. Kachikwu, however, said production in March averaged 1.7 million bpd, slightly above the OPEC quota of 1.685 million bpd. OPEC agreed to take 800,000 […]