Brent crude falls by 3%, sells at $74 per barrel

Brent crude, global oil benchmark, fell by 3.48 percent to $74.32 a barrel on Wednesday — plunging to the lowest since June 2023.

The price of Brent crude had closed Tuesday at $77, but at the time of filing the report, it was trading at $74.32.

On the other hand, US West Texas Intermediate dropped by 4.01 percent to $69.37 per barrel, from $72.27 the previous day.

The new Brent price falls below Nigeria’s 2023 oil benchmark of $75 a barrel and the $77 benchmark for 2024.

Meanwhile, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), last week, said Nigeria can achieve an oil production quota of 1.5 million barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) in 2024. 

“Noted that, by the decision of the 35th OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting, the completion of the assessment by the three independent sources (IHS, Wood Mackenzie and Rystad Energy) for production level that can be achieved in 2024 by Angola, Congo and Nigeria as follows: Angola at 1,110 t/bd, Congo at 277 t/bd and Nigeria at 1,500 t/bd,” the oil cartel said.

At its joint meeting, OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, also announced additional voluntary cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day (bpd), aimed at supporting the stability and balance of oil markets.

Also, at the meeting, the oil alliance agreed to admit Brazil into the charter.

Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), had said Nigeria is taking the right steps towards exceeding the oil production quota projected by OPEC.