When the global oil cartel, OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries), decreed in August that its members should cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day in order to control prices and avoid a glut in the market, Nigeria, Africa’s number one oil producer and 6th largest producer of oil in the world, refused to cut its daily oil production output.

And OPEC is clearly not happy with Nigeria for calling its bluff.

“There have been concerns about producers’ adherence to the agreement as OPEC members Iraq and Nigeria, among others, exceeded their quota in August and Russia also did not fully comply”, Reuters wrote in its report on a recent spike in oil prices, as the market responded to news of extended output cuts from OPEC.

OPEC has 15-member countries in its fold who periodically decide how much crude oil each country should pump out as a way of controlling the global oil market.

The 15 nations who are members of OPEC produce about 44% of the world’s oil and own over 81.5% of the world’s oil reserves.

Because of the power they wield in the oil market, the intergovernmental organization works together to coordinate and unify policies primarily surrounding the pricing of oil.

The following countries are members of OPEC:

This week, Brent (light sweet crude variant) reached its highest level since Aug. 1, while U.S. crude rose to its highest since July 31.

Brent LCOc1 was up 67 cents or 1.07% at $63.26 a barrel by 1305 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures CLc1 were up 63 cents, or 1.09%, at $58.48 a barrel.

Oil price rose this week because OPEC members decided to substantially cap production.

When less oil is produced by each OPEC member, the price of oil in the global market goes up, which is good news for countries like Nigeria who depend on high oil prices to fund the national budget.

Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman who is Saudi Arabia’s new energy minister and a long-time member of the Saudi delegation at OPEC, says the kingdom’s policy would not change and a global deal to cut oil production by 1.2 million barrels per day would be maintained, Reuters reports. 

He added that the so-called OPEC+ alliance, made up of OPEC and non-OPEC producers including Russia, would be in place for the long term.

The OPEC+ joint ministerial monitoring committee (JMMC), which reports on compliance with the cuts, is due to meet on Thursday, September 12 in Abu Dhabi, to decide what to do with countries like Nigeria and Iraq who continue to flout agreements.

When Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, was asked to comment on the development, he told Reuters that his country will continue to obey OPEC and that it isn't every day that Nigeria goes against the OPEC cap.

“It is not every day,” Timipre Sylva said when asked about current overproduction of oil in Nigeria. “We are team players. We will do what OPEC asks.”

Nigeria produces 2.53 million barrels of oil per day when vandals aren't rupturing pipelines in the Delta region; or when oil production companies aren't shutting down operations for fear of attacks from aggrieved militants. 

Crude oil accounts for more than 98 percent of Nigeria’s export earnings and about 83 percent of government revenue.