POLITICAL ECONOMY OF CRUDE OIL MARKETING AND NIGERIA’S MARITIME INDUSTRY

Abstract

The mode of marketing of Nigeria’s crude oil has received scant scholarly attention in extant literature. Also, the vital linkage between it and the development of a vibrant maritime industry has been largely unexplored. This is perhaps a derivative of the  general opacity surrounding the operations of the nation’s oil industry and the limited appreciation of the developmental role of oil as a strategic resource. This paper therefore explores these linkages with a view to demonstrating how the marketing of Nigeria’s crude on Freight on Board (FOB) basis has stunted the development of Nigeria’s maritime industry. It further brings into bold relief its role in accentuating crude oil theft in Nigeria. The paper is both qualitative and empirical. It relied on content analysis of secondary data and anchored analysis on the theoretical prism of the capture theory. It found that the marketing of Nigeria’s crude on FOB as against the Cost, Freight, and Insurance (CFI) mode has not only stunted the development of Nigeria’s maritime industry but also conduces for massive crude oil theft. It therefore recommends the adoption of the CFI mode in the marketing of Nigeria’s crude and harnessing of its numerous potentials for the development of the nation’s maritime industry.