Nigeria’s crude imports from the United States more than doubled in the first eight months of 2025, rising 101% compared with the same period in 2024, according to new data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The country imported 31.69 million barrels between February and August, up from 15.79 million barrels a year earlier. No U.S. crude imports were recorded in January of either year.
Month-by-Month Breakdown
Although monthly volumes fluctuated, Nigeria’s intake of U.S. crude climbed sharply through mid-2025:
- February: 3.11 million barrels (–13.8% from 2024)
- March: 5.25 million barrels (+53.5%)
- April: 2.04 million barrels (+32.3%)
- May: 3.79 million barrels (+82.4%)
- June: 9.16 million barrels, a 782% surge from June 2024’s 1.04 million
- July: 4.17 million barrels (slightly above 4.10 million in 2024)
- August: 4.17 million barrels (no 2024 data for comparison)
Why the Spike in U.S. Crude?
The jump reflects Nigeria’s ongoing dependence on imported crude as domestic supply remains unreliable and refinery operations scale up slowly. U.S. light sweet grades are particularly suited to complex refining setups, especially the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Despite being Africa’s top oil producer, Nigeria still relies heavily on imported crude and fuel. State-owned refineries remain underperforming, and the Dangote plant has frequently turned to U.S. barrels while awaiting more consistent domestic supply.
Domestic Allocation Still Lagging
According to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, 67.66 million barrels were delivered to local refiners between January and August. Refiners had requested 123.48 million barrels for the first half of the year alone, leaving a 45% shortfall.
Allocations followed the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation under the Petroleum Industry Act, but refiners say producers often prefer exporting crude for dollar revenue.
Production vs. Local Refinery Needs
Nigeria produced 1.63 million barrels per day of crude and condensates in August, yet most of this output was exported rather than used domestically.
Kpler Data: Dangote Refinery’s Shift
Commodity analytics firm Kpler reported that the Dangote refinery imported an average of 590,000 barrels per day in July — its highest to date. Of that:
- 370,000 bpd (60%) came from the United States
- 220,000 bpd came from Nigerian grades
July was the first month U.S. crude supply to Dangote exceeded domestic crude deliveries, driven by pricing, operational preferences, and difficulties sourcing local barrels.
References / Sources
- Punch: “Nigeria records 99% jump in US crude imports” — statistics on monthly volumes. Punch Newspaper
- Kpler: “US crude overtakes Nigerian barrels in Dangote’s import mix” — details on July import mix. Kpler
- Nairametrics: “Nigeria becomes net importer of U.S. crude for first time amid Dangote Refinery demand” — analysis and EIA data. Nairametrics
- Business Times (Nigeria): “Dangote Refinery to import 5 million barrels of U.S. WTI Crude in July” — on Dangote’s U.S. crude procurement. Business Times Nigeria
