*IPMAN says it expects to agree petrol price with Dangote refinery in 48 hours*Crude nears two-week low as OPEC cuts demand view
Nigeria's crude oil production grew 35,000 barrels per day in October, rising to about 1.085 million barrels for the month under consideration, a report by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said yesterday.
Quoting secondary sources, OPEC, in its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR), said Africa's largest oil producer recorded 1.434 million barrels per day output last month, from 1.399 million bpd in September.
However, direct communication from Nigeria, OPEC said, showed that the country's average crude oil production for October was 1.333 million bpd, an increase of 9,000 barrels compared to 1.324 million bpd in the previous month.
Also, yesterday, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) said discussions with the Dangote Refinery were ongoing to agree on pricing for petrol coming out of the $20 billion facility located in Lagos.
National Assistant Secretary of the IPMAN, Yakubu Suleiman, who spoke on Arise Television, THISDAY's broadcast arm, noted that IPMAN was fully ready to start lifting petroleum products from the refinery at affordable prices.
He said: "We are fully ready to start lifting from Dangote...and they had a very fruitful discussion, which at the end of the day we will build a good synergy...and we are happy that with that meeting with Dangote now, we have already resolved all the nitty-gritty issues.
"And the whole thing revolves around how do we have cheaper petroleum price? It really bothers us that Nigerians are buying at a higher rate. But I want to assure you, discussion with Dangote is still ongoing, I believe between today or tomorrow, we are going to finish on the issue of pricing," he stated.
He assured that when the price is agreed upon, the president of IPMAN, Abubakar Shettima, will also address Nigerians on the new rate to remove any shades of opacity.
He further said that there was no cartel within IPMAN and emphasised that the association was simply seeking to eliminate middlemen in the distribution process.
"There is no issue of any cartel that is in existence, even within IPMAN. IPMAN is not a cartel- we are marketers ready to serve Nigerians," he stated.
Meanwhile, oil prices yesterday dropped near a two-week low after slumping about 5 per cent over the past two sessions as investors absorbed OPEC's latest downward revision for demand growth.
Brent futures was $71.99 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude sold for $68.16.
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OPEC in the MOMR cut its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2024 and also lowered its projection for next year, marking the producer group's fourth consecutive downward revision.
The weaker outlook highlights the challenge facing OPEC and allies such as Russia. This month, the group postponed a plan to start raising output in December against a backdrop of falling prices.
OPEC said world oil demand would rise by 1.82 million barrels per day in 2024, down from growth of 1.93 million bpd forecast last month.
The group also cut its 2025 global demand growth estimate to 1.54 million bpd from 1.64 million bpd. OPEC remains at the top of industry estimates and has a long way to go to match the International Energy Agency's far lower view.
