Epstein emails reference proposed Nigerian oil deal, newly released FBI files show

Newly released FBI documents include emails in which Jeffrey Epstein discussed a proposed plan to broker Nigerian crude oil, while expressing concern that the deal could be fraudulent.

The correspondence, dated 20 September 2010, is part of materials disclosed under the Epstein Files Transparency Act and reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES. In the exchange, a man identified as David Stern outlined an opportunity to profit from buying and reselling Nigerian crude to China, estimating potential earnings of about $6 million.

Stern wrote that a contact, identified only as “PA,” had suggested a meeting with individuals who claimed to have access to Nigerian oil supplies and buyers abroad.

“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,” Stern wrote, adding a note of caution: “This seems very fishy (as my boss JEE would say).”

Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, but its oil sector has long faced scrutiny over opaque transactions and illegal trading. Successive administrations have pledged reforms, and the national oil company, NNPC Limited, only recently began publishing audited accounts.

The emails about the oil proposal are among several exchanges in which Nigeria was mentioned in Epstein’s communications with business associates and contacts.

In another email dated 27 September 2010, George Reenstra, founder of Aircraft Service Group, informed Epstein that he had to travel urgently to Nigeria for what he described as a mandatory meeting with then-President Goodluck Jonathan. Reenstra wrote that he had tried to delay the trip but could not, and passed transaction documents to a business partner to continue discussions with Epstein. There is no indication in the documents that the meeting with the Nigerian president took place.

The newly disclosed files contain numerous emails between Epstein and members of his business and social network before his death in 2019. Epstein had been awaiting trial on sex trafficking and conspiracy charges, to which he pleaded not guilty, when he died in prison.

The documents also show communications involving several prominent figures across politics, business and royalty.

They include references to exchanges with Steve Bannon, Bill Clinton, Elon Musk, and Prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, among others. Some emails show invitations, social plans, and attempts by Epstein to arrange introductions.

In one instance, Epstein asked Bannon in January 2019 if he had received an Apple Watch sent as a Christmas gift and later invited him to New York. Emails from 2012 and 2013 show Musk discussing possible visits to Epstein’s Caribbean property, invitations Musk later said he declined.

The files also include correspondence linked to Prince Andrew, including a Buckingham Palace dinner invitation and emails sent months after the prince had publicly stated he had not been in contact with Epstein following a 2010 visit.

The FBI documents do not allege wrongdoing by many of the individuals mentioned but show the extent of Epstein’s communications with influential figures across different sectors.