Nigeria to Restore Oil Output

Nigeria will revive oil production this summer as it completes maintenance and repairs, and expects fellow OPEC members to continue to cut their output in the second half of the year, Oil Minister Emmanuel Kachikwu said. Africa’s second-biggest producer will finish repairs on the Forcados pipeline by June and complete maintenance at the Bonga oilfield the following month, Kachikwu said, Bloomberg reported. The country’s output slumped to 1.27 million barrels a day last month, the lowest in decades, according to data provided by the nation. It aims to reach 2.2 million barrels a day. With production losses due to militant attacks, Nigeria had been exempt from output cuts by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. The nation will join the OPEC measure once it has fully restored output it has lost, which could happen as early as October or November, Kachikwu said.