Potential oil reserves in Nigeria are expected to fall further by 6 billion barrels, according to projections by Rystad Energy, driven down by subdued demand for oil in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak worldwide.

The Norwegian energy research firm said in its annual global energy outlook for 2020 that the pandemic will continue to pull down the demand for oil and thus, put a lid on exploration in remote offshore areas, further reducing the world’s recoverable oil by around 282 billion barrels.

“In Nigeria, after a decade long debate on oil policy reforms, potential reserves are expected to fall further by 6 billion barrels,“ the report said. In the continent’s second-largest oil producer, Angola, Rystad foresees “less deepwater exploration as peak oil demand comes sooner due to Covid-19.”

Reserve figures are expected to decline across the region’s top oil producers. Algeria’s shale exploration potential is projected to fall by 7 billion barrels despite positive news on oil policy reforms. And with no “imminent peace in sight” in Libya, future production potential falls further by 4 billion barrels, Rystad said.

Producers in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries are expected to lose 21 billion barrels of reserves potential as the negative developments in Venezuela and Iran outweigh the increased strength and reserves potential of core OPEC countries in the Arab Gulf region, Head of Analysis Per Magnus Nysveen said.

Non-OPEC countries meanwhile account for the “lion’s share of lost recoverable resources” with more than 260 billion barrels of undiscovered oil now more likely to be left untouched, Nysveen added.

Rystad foresees Saudi Arabia to be the clear winner of the OPEC+ agreement and expects the oil-rich nation to add 25 billion barrels to future production, it said in this year’s outlook released after the publication of the BP Statistical Review.