Brent, against which Nigeria’s crude oil is priced, plunged by $2.59 to $74.57 per barrel as of 7:40pm Nigerian time on Tuesday after hitting a session peak of $77.84, its highest since October 2018. Ministers from OPEC and its allies, a group called OPEC+, abandoned talks on Monday as negotiations failed to close divisions. Reuters reported that discussions dissolved after Saudi Arabia, the largest OPEC producer, and United Arab Emirates were unable to agree over the terms for increasing supply. Some OPEC+ sources said they still believed the group would resume discussions this month and agree to pump more from August, though others said current curbs might remain in place. Goldman Sachs said the collapse of the talks had introduced uncertainty into OPEC’s production path.

Source: Punch July 06, 2021 23:48 UTC