Some member countries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) plan to hold talks with non-OPEC members in Russia around March 20 to agree on output freeze, Kachikwu revealed.

“We're beginning to see the price of crude inch up very slowly. But if the meeting that we're scheduling, should happen in Russia, between the OPEC and non-OPEC producers, we should see some dramatic price movement. Both the Saudis and the Russians, everybody is coming back to the table. I think we're very humbled today to accept that if we get to a price of $50, it will be celebrated. That's a target that we have," Emmanuel Kachikwu Nigerian Minister of state for petroleum Resources told a conference in Abuja.

Meanwhile, the prices of oil fell today in spite of talks of a meeting between oil producing nations by Venezuela. The country, said about 15 countries will be present at the meeting with the aim of agreeing to freeze production at January level.

WTI crude oil traded at 0.12% at $34.62 per barrel, while Brent dropped by 0.62% at $36.70 on Thursday, Reuters reports.

Anita Fatunji