Nigeria calls on members to find consensus on output freeze

April 18, 2016 3:44 PM

"We are just going to work on it," Nigeria's oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said in a statement issued by his ministry.

Nigeria's Oil Minister and OPEC president Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu addresses a news conference after a meeting of OPEC oil ministers in Vienna, Austria, December 4, 2015.

Nigeria called on OPEC members to find a consensus on a freeze on oil production after talks among producers collapsed in Qatar on Sunday, the oil ministry said on Monday.

A deal to freeze oil output by OPEC and non-OPEC producers fell apart on Sunday after Saudi Arabia demanded that Iran to join in despite calls on Riyadh to save the agreement and help prop up crude prices.

"We are just going to work on it," Nigeria's oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said in a statement issued by his ministry.

"It is a supply and demand issue and we need to consult and bring everybody into the circle and thank God that a committee is now in place to try and work towards getting everybody on board," he said.

Nigeria has been in the forefront of trying to get a consensus among producers to freeze output as a slump in oil revenues has hit its public finances and currency.