(Adds further details, background)
By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Nigeria is currently producing
1.774 million barrels of crude oil per day, its oil minister
Timipre Sylva said on Thursday, above an estimate given by state
oil firm NNPC in November of 1.6 million-1.7 million bpd.
An NNPC official said in November that the country would
continue to comply with OPEC output cuts. The group of more than
20 producers agreed last month to increase their targeted output
cut to 1.7 million bpd. Last month Sylva told Saudi Energy Minister bin Salman that
Nigeria's compliance with OPEC cuts had improved substantially
since August.
Nigeria had OPEC's largest production drop in December, of
80,000 bpd, and also exported less crude, based on ship-tracking
data and loading schedules.
"Today Nigeria is producing according to OPEC 1.774 million
bpd," Sylva told a media briefing in Abuja.
Sylva said he was working to get a long-delayed Petroleum
Industry Bill (PIB) passed within the second quarter, after
which Nigeria would conduct a bid round for major oil blocks.
Nigeria has not had a licensing round in more than a decade
owing to a lack of clarity regarding fiscal terms for oil
exploration.
The PIB, a key piece of legislation which has been nearly
two decades in the making, aims to increase transparency, change
the fiscal regime for oil producers and stimulate growth in the
country's oil industry.
Under the last parliament in 2018, the bill was broken up
into two parts to help to get it past lawmakers, but the
president refused to sign it into law. This time, Sylva said the
bill will be passed as one.
He said the government will conduct bid rounds for marginal
fields this year with or without the passing of the oil bill.