“Oil Prices Won’t Drop Below $20 Per Barrel” – Kachikwu

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Kachikwu said he doesn’t expect oil prices to fall below $20 and that the current $30 price was never really anticipated by members.

Kachiwu spoke to CNN on the sidelines of an energy conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Tuesday where he said an Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) emergency meeting is necessary for member countries to review strategies if they must continue to survive in the oil business.

He said a time has come for member countries to sit back, have a meeting and dialogue once more without the sort of tension that trailed previous meetings.

Asked whether the dialogue will lead to action especially by Saudi Arabia giving up around 1.5m barrels crude in the market, he said, “I think ultimately for the interest of everybody some policy change will happen…The symbolism will be more important to me than the numbers and that symbolism is essential if you are going to have a meaningful dialogue with people like Russia or the rest.”

“I expect to see it on those fringes of $30, a month or two months I expect to see it to begin to climb. I am optimistic that 2016 we are going to $50 barrel type level but the first quarter is going to be very rough,” he said.

Kachikwu said members must agree on common positions else, “the meetings won’t make any meanings until you have both protagonists agree to common positions.