FG teams up with Angola to boost oil prices

At the summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg, South Africa, held on Saturday, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and his Angolan counterpart, Jose Eduardo dos Santos reached to an agreement to reach out to other oil producing nations in this process.

OPEC’S meeting held on Friday yielded no production cuts, which is signaling furthermore falling of oil prices. In this scenario, these two countries took the initiation towards shoring up oil prices which can be done only when the other oil producing nations agree to the production ceiling.

President Buhari agreed with Eduardo dos Santos that there was no logic in producing more oil for less money and called for a new consensus among oil producing countries on the current level of oil price.

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Both leaders acknowledged their nations' heavy dependence on oil for sustaining their national economies and resolved to get their respective oil ministers to meet urgently with a view to finding a way forward.

Angola’s President Eduardo dos Santos described Nigeria as a very important country in Africa that is traditionally looked upon to help solve problems on the continent, adding that his country and Nigeria which share similar security and oil challenges in the Gulf of Guinea must forge closer relationship to overcome the mutual problems.

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He also expressed sympathy with Nigeria on its security challenges, noting however, that he believed that President Buhari is the right person to restore peace to Nigeria given his military background.

Eduardo dos Santos said he is looking forward to meet President Buhari again and invited him to visit Angola next year with a view to finding solutions to common problems and to decide on improving bilateral relations in all aspects.