Buhari to meet Saudi, Qatari leaders over drop in crude oil prices

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari will fly to Saudi Arabia for talks with King Salman on ways to stabilize crude oil prices, his spokesman said on Sunday.

The statement said Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum and group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), will accompany the president.

“Ongoing efforts by Nigeria and other members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to achieve greater stability in the price of crude oil exports are expected to be high on the agenda of discussions,” the presidency said before the trip later this week.

Since its peak in 2014, the global price of oil, which accounted for two-thirds of the Nigerian government’s revenue, has plunged by 70 percent, decimating Nigeria’s economic growth and its currency, the naira.

Buhari has already acknowledged falling oil prices are having “a painful effect” on the country’s economy but has refused to devalue the naira saying it will affect the poor.

The Nigerian leader will also fly to Doha to discuss oil price stability with Qatar’s ruler later in the week, after the meeting with the Saudi king, the statement said.