Tinubu makes inaccurate claims about Nigeria’s crude oil production, pricing in 2015

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By Philip Shimnom Clement

 

THE presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 election, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, recently stated that Nigeria’s oil production under the previous government was 400,000 barrels per day before President Muhammadu Buhari took over as the nation’s president in 2015.

He started this while speaking at the launch of the women’s team of the APC presidential campaign.

READ: Akpabio repeats false claim about Lagos IGR under Tinubu 

He also told the APC women’s wing to tell Nigerians calling for a change of government to “shut up”.

Tinubu, who is considered a ‘frontline’ contender in the 2023 general elections, said he would consolidate Buhari’s achievements if elected to office.

He said Nigerians seeking a change of government had forgotten the country’s situation before President Buhari assumed office, adding that he would put an end to banditry if elected president in 2023.

“If they say they want a change of government, just tell them, we will like to be polite, but shut up your mouth.

“In the last eight years, even as a party that inherited a troublesome nation under the weight of uncertainty, we preached change of government which God has changed.

“Buhari took over, he took over the lowest production of 400,000 barrels of oil, the worst pricing; but still, the very determined and focused person was able to bail out even 36 states of this country who are not able to pay salary, people who are living in hunger – give him a bravo,” Tinubu said.

CLAIMS

  1. That Nigeria’s oil production was 400,000 barrels per day before President Muhammadu Buhari took over as president in 2015.
  2. That Nigeria had the worst pricing for crude oil produced before Buhari’s government in 2015.

THE FINDINGS

Checks by Daily Trust show that the claims by Tinubu in the period under review are INACCURATE.

Data from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) shows that Nigeria recorded an average oil production of 2.05 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2011; 1.9 million bpd in 2012; 1.7 million bpd in 2013; and 1.8 million bpd in 2014.

ALSO READ: Photo of Obi in handshakes with Tinubu is FAKE!

Similarly, Nigeria’s average annual price of crude oil in 1999 was about $17.4 per barrel. It rose to $27.6 in 2000, dropped to $23.1 in 2001, and maintained a slight increase in 2002($24.3), 2003($28.1) and in 2004(36.5) respectively, data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as quoted by Statista, a data analysis platform showed.

The data revealed that oil sold for $50.5 per barrel in 2005, $61 in 2006, $69 in 2007, $94.1 in 2008, $60.8 in 2009 and in 2010, the oil price was $77.3. In 2011, the average annual price of oil had gotten to a record high of $107 per barrel, increasing to $109 per barrel in 2012, $105.8 in 2013 and touched $96.2 in 2014 and partly in 2015 before President Buhari took over.

This clearly shows that President Buhari didn’t take over a government with the worst oil production pricing as claimed by Tinubu.

Also, OPEC data shows the highest price ever paid for crude oil was between June and July 2008, when a barrel of crude oil was sold for around $130 to $147, although the average crude oil price in 2008 ended up being $94.45 per barrel.

Background

Although Nigeria earns huge amounts of money from crude oil sales, fuel subsidy payment has done more harm than good to its revenues.

As it stands, Nigeria does not have an accurate figure on how many litres are consumed by citizens as the figures quoted range between 50 million litres per day to around 103 million litres.

Findings show that Nigeria spent N758.1 billion to cater for the cost of petroleum shortfall in the first quarter of 2022.

According to media reports, Nigeria incurred a subsidy cost of N210.3 billion in January 2022, N219.783 billion in February, and N328.004 billion in March.

Analysts have argued that the subsidy cost denies the country value that could have accrued from higher oil prices.

The Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA 2021), although suspended for now to accommodate subsidy payments from now till June 2023, is reported to be the game changer in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.

THE VERDICT

The claims by Tinubu that Nigeria recorded 400,000 barrels per day and the worst crude oil prices before President Buhari took over are INACCURATE.

 

This report was written by Daily Trust, and republished by The FactCheckHub as part of the Nigerian Fact-checkers’ Coalition initiative. See the original piece here.

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