Although a slight difference was noted in oil production in May, which refers to the Gabonese State’s non-compliance with the reduction agreement signed in April by members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), specialized information sites reveal that some signatories of the agreement have done much worse by doubling, tripling, even quadrupling their production, like Iraq, Kazakhstan or Nigeria and Angola on the African continent.
Last May, one month after the commitment made by OPEC members and its partners to each reduce their daily oil production, Gabon would have found itself producing 226,000 barrels / day instead of the 144,000 it was held, in accordance with the Declaration of cooperation signed on April 12, 2020. If the information disclosed on June 11 by the confidential letter Africa Intelligence remains to be confirmed by the government, the meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Agreement which took hand, Thursday June 18, Vincent de Paul Massassa revealed that Gabon was not the only country to have broken the rule. Some OPEC members have done worse, according to some specialist media.
This is particularly the case in the Middle East, Iraq and Central Asia in Kazakhstan who, within the Organization, are considered bad pupils. Having recognized their differences in compliance with the agreement to reduce their oil production, they have already provided OPEC with “compensation schedules”, informs the specialized information site Leprixdubaril.com which says it has consulted the final press release from Thursday’s meeting.
On the African continent, the difference allegedly recorded in Gabon’s production in May would be tiny compared to that of other countries such as Nigeria and Angola. These two countries, the first from West Africa and the second from Central Africa, are now presented as “laggards” for not having communicated to the organization their different compensation proposals after it has been shown to have failed to deliver. By producing 312,000 barrels / day in May, Congo-Brazzaville is also one of the countries on the continent that has not respected the quota.
As for Gabon, if the facts reported by Africa Intelligence are proven, the country should agree to compensation, like other pinned exporting countries. A source at the Gabonese Petroleum Ministry is thinking of an extension of two to three months of Gabon’s engagement.
Our source, who does not deny a risk to the income of the country, which depends largely on black gold, also assures that the information disseminated on the issue by certain media is not necessarily accurate.
These figures could have been inflated to tarnish the image of Gabon, especially since they are not the same as those held by the administration of Hydrocarbons which is currently processing and consolidating the figures communicated by the operators on their production for the month of May.
