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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has reduced the prices of its crude oil exports in a bid to regain market share amidst low oil prices. NNPC slashed the official selling prices (OSP) by at least $1 per barrel for 20 out of its 26 oil grades, according to a Bloomberg report on Thursday.

“The price reductions are due to a huge cargo overhang as the country attempts to regain market share” said Mele Kyari, NNPC’s Group General Manager for the Crude Oil Marketing Division.

According to Bloomberg, NNPC reduced the official selling price of Qua Iboe, Nigeria’s largest export grade, for November to a 17 cent premium to the benchmark Dated Brent from $1.07. The national oil company also reduced the price of Bonny Light to a 7 cent premium and Forcados to a 41 cent discount to Dated Brent.

The Nigerian government revenues have been hit hard by the slump in oil prices, coupled with a fall in output due to militant attacks on oil facilities in the oil-producing Niger Delta region. The country’s oil production remains below the target of 2.2 million barrels per day (mbpd) since the start of the year, dropping to around 1.2 mbpd  in May.

In its latest monthly oil market report released last week, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said Nigeria's crude oil production averaged 33.39 mbpd in September, having increased by 280, 700 bpd from the 1.104 mbpd recorded in August.

At as 6.21pm GMT, Brent crude futures traded at $51.37 on the Intercontinental Exchange in London. The global crude benchmark was down 2.47 percent from the previous day’s close.

“It is a bearish signal for the light, sweet market,” Eshan Ul-Haq, principal consultant at KBC Process Technology Limited, told Bloomberg. “In order to capture a higher share of the market, OSPs have to come down.”