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Oil prices are set to remain low for the foreseeable future after Saudi Arabia vowed to keep pumping more oil ahead of a key OPEC meeting on December 4.

Last November, Saudi Arabia persuaded members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, including Nigeria, to abandon their policy of reducing oil supplies in response to declining oil prices. The cartel decided to retain its output, maintain market share and allow oil prices to plummet, in a strategy that was also designed to hurt North American shale oil companies, which produce oil at a higher cost.

Khalid al-Falih, chairman of state-owned Saudi Aramco, told Financial Times that Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, would keep pumping more oil to meet customer demand despite the oil glut.

“The only thing to do now is to let the market do its job,” Falih said. “There have been no conversations here that say we should cut production now that we’ve seen the pain.”

Oil prices have fallen from a high of $115 in May last year to below $50 today.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil exporter, has been hit hard by the decline in oil prices. Government revenue has fallen by more than 40 percent, the naira has weakened, and the Central Bank of Nigeria has been forced to impose currency restrictions.

Chibuike Oguh is Financial Nigeria's Frontier Markets Analyst