The crude production target of 2.3 million barrels per day proposed in the 2018 budget will not be achieved because of acts of sabotage in the lead-up to the 2019 elections, FBNQuest Capital has predicted. FBNQuest, which made this assertion in its newly-released Economic Outlook, projected that oil output will average 2.07mbpd this year, as against 1.90 mbpd of 2017, due to expected disruption in production as activities towards the 2019 elections rev up. It, however, acknowledged that production had been in the upswing since mid-2017 with the federal government’s fruitful effort to settle volatile issues in the Niger Delta. “We see average output (including condensates) this year at 2.07 mbpd, compared with 1.90 mbpd in 2017 and the assumption of 2.30 mbpd in the 2018 budget proposals,” FBNQuest, which is an arm of FBN Holdings Plc., stated. “We have made allowances for some acts of sabotage in the […]