Nigerian Minister of Oil, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said that Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)  must lower production costs to compete better with shale producers, Reuters reported.

Kachikwu said he was confident that an output reduction agreement agreed in November would see oil prices hold. The November 30, 2016 agreement to cut production, which Nigeria and Libya were exempted from, prompted oil prices to rise $10 a barrel. However, analysts say that a revival in US shale production is likely to limit any major price recovery in crude oil, according to ThisDayLive. 

Nigeria, which relies on crude sales for around two-thirds of government revenue, saw its economy shrink 1.5 % in 2016 – the first full-year contraction in 25 years – largely due to lower oil receipts.