Nigeria spends more on securing crude oil than producing it — Donald Duke

The presidential candidate of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has said Nigeria spends more on securing crude oil than extracting it, blaming high security costs and deteriorating infrastructure for rising production expenses and petrol prices.

Speaking on ARISE NEWS on Thursday, Duke argued that reducing these costs would improve economic productivity and ease pressure on households.

According to PUNCH Online, Duke estimated crude extraction costs at $12 to $15 per barrel, rising to between $25 and $45 when security and infrastructure expenses are included.

“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.

Duke said affordable energy was essential to citizens’ productivity and questioned why petrol remained expensive in an oil-producing nation.

He clarified that his proposal concerned petrol at ₦300 per litre, rather than ₦200, saying revenues from other refined products could help lower pump prices.

“The point is, the margins that you make from other products, you can even use it and further dampen the price,” he said.

However, Duke acknowledged that crude oil commitments could make the proposed ₦300 price difficult to achieve.