Nigeria did not fully comply with a pact by oil producers to rein in output to balance markets but will make additional cuts to make up for the lapse by mid-July, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Mele Kyari said on Wednesday.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Kyari said the OPEC+ production cut deal was necessary to re-balance the oil market and move Brent prices towards $42 to $45 a barrel by the end of the year, while insisting the NNPC will not cut jobs this year.

Nigeria had exceeded its quota for production cuts under an OPEC+ deal by a little less than 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) in May, Kyari said in an online interview with Dubai-based research firm Gulf Intelligence.

According to Reuters reports, Africa’s top oil exporter aims to reach full compliance by “maximum, middle of July”, Kyari said, adding the country will by that point need to cut an additional 40,000-45,000 bpd in order to compensate for its earlier over-production.

Kyari said there had been technical challenges to reining in Nigeria’s output but the country was fully committed to the cuts.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers agreed in April to cut supply by 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in May and June to support prices as coronavirus lockdowns caused demand to collapse.