Former Cross River State Governor and 2027 presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party, Donald Duke, has promised to reduce the price of petrol to about N300 per litre if elected president.
Duke said petrol and other locally produced petroleum products should be priced according to their cost of production rather than international market prices.
Speaking on his economic plans, the presidential hopeful argued that Nigeria could make fuel more affordable by allocating a portion of its crude oil production for domestic consumption and selling the balance on the international market.
He proposed setting aside about 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day for local consumption, provided that the volume meets the country’s domestic needs, while the remaining production could be exported.
Duke said the approach would allow Nigerians to benefit directly from the country’s crude oil resources and reduce the pressure caused by high petrol prices.
He estimated that crude oil could be produced and processed at a cost of about $45 per barrel, or around $30 before processing, arguing that selling the finished product to Nigerians at prices linked to international markets places an unnecessary burden on consumers.
According to him, the current cost of petrol is particularly difficult for low-income earners, with a large portion of workers’ salaries going towards transportation and fuel-related expenses.
Duke acknowledged that a N300 per litre petrol price might appear unrealistic under current conditions but maintained that the figures could support the target if domestic crude allocation and refining were properly managed.
He also criticised the existing approach to fuel subsidies, arguing that Nigeria should focus on using its crude resources to meet domestic energy needs at production cost.
Nigeria currently produces an average of about 1.68 million barrels of crude oil per day, while the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority estimates daily petrol consumption at about 60.2 million litres.
Duke said his proposal would help lower transportation costs, ease pressure on households and make Nigeria’s crude oil wealth more beneficial to citizens.
Category: Downstream / Petroleum
