The thousands of pages of court documents, emails, and flight logs collectively known as the "Epstein Files" have yielded yet another startling revelation: before his downfall, convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein set his sights on Nigeria's oil wealth—but ultimately backed away, fearing he would be the one getting swindled.
The disclosure, drawn from correspondence released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, offers a bizarre twist in the saga of a man whose fortune funded a global network of exploitation. It also casts an uncomfortable light on the opaque world of Nigerian crude trading, where even a predator feared becoming prey .
The $6 Million Question
In a September 20, 2010 email, a contact identified as David Stern alerted Epstein to what he described as a lucrative opportunity. A person referred to only as "PA" had introduced Stern to individuals claiming they could access Nigerian crude oil for resale to China—or other buyers—with an estimated profit of $6 million .
Stern's message to Epstein was tantalizing but cautious: "PA has asked me to see a guy who has access to Nigerian oil, and when selling it to China (or somebody else), F. can make around $6m."
But the very next line revealed deep scepticism: "This seems very fishy (as my boss JEE would say)."
The identity of "F." remains unclear, but subsequent reporting by the Daily Mail suggested the scheme was being pitched to benefit Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, who was reportedly facing significant debt at the time—with Prince Andrew potentially involved in facilitating the deal .
A Meeting with the President?
The Epstein Files contain another intriguing Nigerian connection. On September 27, 2010, just days after the Stern email, George Reenstra, founder of Aircraft Service Group, wrote to Epstein with urgent news.
"I unexpectedly must leave this evening for Nigeria. I have tried hard to delay this trip but it is with the country President and I have no alternative," Reenstra stated, four months after Goodluck Jonathan was sworn in as Nigeria's leader .
Reenstra assured Epstein that documents related to a separate transaction had been passed to his partner, Jon Parker, and expressed hope that "we can resolve the contract issues and get the funds into deposit early this week."
There is no public record confirming whether the meeting with President Jonathan ever took place. Jonathan's office has not commented on the email, and no evidence suggests any connection between the proposed oil deal and the planned presidential audience .
Why Epstein Got Cold Feet
The irony of Jeffrey Epstein—a man who built his fortune through what prosecutors described as a pyramid of deception—fearing fraud is not lost on observers. But the historical context of Nigeria's oil sector provides some explanation .
For decades, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been plagued by allegations of massive corruption, opaque accounting, and systemic mismanagement. A 2016 audit found the company failed to remit $16 billion in oil revenues. Another report flagged $1.48 billion in missing funds. More recently, 2025 investigations highlighted over ₦210 trillion (approximately $153 billion) in unaccounted revenue .
Despite spending billions on refinery "turnaround maintenance," Nigeria's state refineries remained largely non-functional, fuelling accusations of contract inflation and fraud. Former officials have been embroiled in money laundering scandals, and crude oil theft—with some reports claiming "nearly all" production at certain hubs like Bonny was lost to vandalism—has become endemic .
In this environment, even a man accused of running one of history's most sophisticated sex trafficking operations thought better than to dive into Nigerian oil trading.
Reforms and the Road Ahead
Nigeria restructured NNPC into the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in 2022 under the Petroleum Industry Act, aiming to operate as a commercially driven entity with greater accountability. The company has only recently begun publishing audited accounts, a step toward transparency .
The Dangote Refinery, a $20 billion, 650,000-barrel-per-day facility, is fundamentally reshaping Nigeria's energy landscape, transitioning the country from a net importer of fuel to a self-sufficient producer and exporter. It has begun exporting diesel and aviation fuel to Europe and gasoline to the United States, directly competing with European refiners and saving Nigeria precious foreign exchange .
The government has positioned these developments as evidence of progress. But the Epstein revelations serve as a reminder of the sector's deeply entrenched reputation—one that made even a predator pause.
The Global Web
The Nigerian emails are a small part of a vast trove documenting Epstein's connections to the wealthy and powerful: Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton, Elon Musk, Donald Trump's inner circle, and numerous others .
For Nigeria, the files offer a glimpse into how the country's oil wealth attracted interest from the darkest corners of global finance—and how, in this instance at least, the reputational risk cut both ways.
Epstein, who died by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges, never made his fortune in Nigerian crude. The deal, it seems, was too "fishy" even for him.
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