Why Nigerians Pay More For Petrol Despite Crude Oil Wealth – Donald Duke

The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate, Donald Duke, has claimed that Nigeria spends more money securing its oil than producing it.

Naija News reports that he stated this during an appearance on Arise Television on Thursday.

According to Duke, security expenses and deteriorating infrastructure had pushed production costs to between $25 and $45 per barrel despite the actual cost of extracting crude being between $12 and $15.

The PRP flag bearer argued that addressing these expenses could help Nigeria lower petrol prices and reduce the cost of living.

“The actual production cost of a crude in Nigeria is anywhere between $12 and $15. What takes it up to $25 or $45 is security costs and dilapidated infrastructure. So you’re paying more for security than producing the oil and even the NNPC says that they’re trying to bring it down to $20 a barrel. So in other words, the oil producing companies have added the security. You can’t tell me that you pay about $10 or $15 to secure one barrel that is produced actually between $12 and $15,” he said.

He defended his proposal to reduce petrol prices, arguing that Nigeria’s status as an oil-producing country should translate into cheaper energy for its citizens.

“I think the fundamental objective of government is the productivity of its citizens. So you’ve got to tackle all the things that are inimical to the productivity of your citizens,” he said.

Duke said energy was central to achieving that objective, questioning why Nigeria continued to struggle with high petrol prices despite its crude oil resources.

“Now, energy is a kernel of it. Energy, capital, those things are very important. You’re an oil producing country. Supposedly you produce 1.7, 1.8 million barrels a day,” he said.