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| President Muhammadu Buhari and King Salman Bin Abdul-Aziz Photo: BBC |
Leaders of Nigeria and
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have expressed commitment to a “stable oil market”
and a “rebound of oil price.”
Media
report continues:
At
a bilateral meeting between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia in Riyadh hosted by the
ruler King Salman Bin Abdul-Aziz, the two leaders accepted the fact that their
two economies are tied to oil and that all cannot be well with both countries
when the world oil market is unstable.
They
therefore committed themselves to doing all that is possible to stabilize the
market and rebound the oil price.
The
two leaders did not expatiate on modalities they plan to adopt in raising oil
price.
The
two leaders, who engaged in extensive discussions on regional and global
issues, also agreed that terrorism posed a common threat to their states and
would require close cooperation to prevail over the threats.
President
Muhammadu Buhari, who was making his first pronouncement on the invitation to
join the coalition of Islamic states against terror spearheaded by the Saudis,
congratulated the Kingdom on its formation.
“Even
if we are not a part of it, we support you. I must thank the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia for the recent creation of a coalition to address the menace of
international terrorism. Nigeria will support your efforts in keeping peace and
stopping the spread of terror in your region. This is in consonance with our
own commitment and on-going efforts in seeking to stamp out Boko Haram
terrorists from the West African sub-region and Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC),”
the President said.
Speaking
on global terror generally, President Buhari said that “international terrorism
made a statement by attacking one of the advanced countries by carrying out an
attack on Paris in which 130 were killed. Now we have to come together to find
a common solution to the problem of terrorism.”
He
thanked the Saudi government for its continuing support to Nigeria in the fight
against terrorism.
Turning
to the menace that Libya has turned into, President Buhari regretted that the late
Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi recruited, trained and armed citizens of many
states in the Sahel region.
With
his fall, these mercenaries have returned to their countries, “doing nothing
but to shoot and kill.”
He
cited Burkina Faso and Mali as the main victims but expressed happiness that
the countries neighboring the Lake Chad have tightened their ranks to finish
off the Boko Haram threat.
“Luckily,
we have cultivated our neighbors. We are now working together against Boko
Haram, otherwise the problem would have become worse.”
He
and King Salman hoped that the Libyan factions will soon see reason to reunite
and fully restore their own country so as to save the world from further
terrorism spin-offs from that country.
The
leaders also focused on trade between their states and agreed to give fresh
impetus to the joint commission previously established in order to boost
commercial and other activities to unify their peoples.
In
his remarks, King Salman commended the progress made by Nigeria in combating
terrorism and promised to give further support and assistance.
He
welcomed the support of the Nigerian government for the new anti-terrorism
coalition and implored the President to consider its full membership.
King
Salman pledged his full support and cooperation to Nigeria under its present
leadership and directed all agencies of his government to follow up on the
discussions.
“I now instruct my team to
go and sit down with your relevant agencies to push forward cooperation between
our states,” the King said.
OPEC Doubts It Can 'Live' With US Shale
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|
OPEC
Secretary General Adullah el-Badri © Leonhard Foeger / Reuters
|
RT
reports that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has
raised doubts about its common future with US shale oil. After Congress lifted
the oil export ban last December, the US is expected to boost crude production
dramatically.
"Shale
oil in the United States, I don’t know how we are going to live together,” said
OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem el-Badri, speaking at the IHS Energy
CERAWeek conference.
“I
talk to the EU, I talk to the Russians, I talk to the Chinese, I talk almost to
everybody except the United States — what I want is a dialogue…The United
States wants to export, but at the same time they import and store. This is
something that I don't know how we're going to tackle," he said.
According
to el-Badri, the cartel has never worked with oil producers that respond to
shifts in prices so quickly. “Any increase in price, shale will come
immediately and cover any reduction," he said.
The
International Energy Agency reported on Monday that US shale oil is still very
far from being ousted from the market. While production is projected to go down
by 600,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year and a further 200,000 bpd next year,
it is expected to increase again in 2018.
“Anybody
who believes that we have seen the last of rising" US shale oil production
"should think again,” the IEA said in a report, quoted by Bloomberg.
Last
week, the world’s two largest oil producers - Saudi Arabia and Russia – agreed
on an oil production freeze at January levels. Iran welcomed the plan, but has
not committed to limiting its production.
The
agreement boosted crude prices that have seen a seventy percent drop since
mid-2014, falling from over US$100 per barrel to below US$27.
US WTI benchmark was
trading at US$32.64 per barrel, while Brent benchmark cost US$34.04 as of
9:17am GMT Tuesday.
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