Posted by Chinenye on Fri 16th Oct, 2026 - tori.ng
A fresh comment from Donald Duke has sparked attention on Nigeria’s rising petrol prices.
(Donald Duke. Photo Credit: TheCable)
PRP presidential candidate Donald Duke says Nigeria spends more on securing its crude oil than on extracting it.
He said high security costs and poor infrastructure push up production costs and contribute to high petrol prices.
In an online interview on Thursday, Duke said crude production costs in Nigeria are between $12 and $15 a barrel.
He said security and damaged infrastructure push that figure to between $25 and $45.
He argued that the government should focus on the productivity of citizens and tackle the things that make essential goods and services expensive.
He also clarified that his proposal was to cut petrol to N300 per litre, not N200.
He admitted that the N300 target may no longer be realistic because of existing crude oil commitments made by the government.
He said blending domestic and imported fuel could still bring prices down to around N700, which he said would be far better than N1,300.
Duke proposed several steps.
These include sourcing more crude locally, using contract refining where the government supplies crude and pays a processing fee, and dyeing fuel so that smuggled products can be traced.
He said the government should not punish citizens for weak border control.