Despite being Africa’s largest crude oil producer, Nigeria imported crude oil worth N1.19tn in the first quarter of 2025 due to poor domestic supply to local refineries. The National Bureau of Statistics disclosed this in its latest Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics report for Q1 2025.
The imported crude, classified as “Petroleum oils and oils obtained from bituminous minerals, crude,” emerged as Nigeria’s third most imported product within the period under review. The product accounted for 7.7% of total imports, trailing only gas oil and motor spirit ordinary, which were valued at N1.83tn and N1.76tn, respectively.
Further analysis of the NBS data revealed that the United States was the dominant source of the crude oil imported by Nigerian refineries, supplying N726.84bn worth of the product. This figure represents approximately 61% of the total value of crude oil imports into the country in the quarter. Angola and Algeria followed with N223.58bn and N122.37bn, respectively.
Together, these three countries accounted for most of Nigeria’s crude imports during the period, signaling that local refineries relied significantly on foreign-sourced feedstock due to the lack of a sufficient domestic supply. Local refineries, including modular operations and large-scale facilities like the Dangote Refinery, are being compelled to turn to international markets for crude supply as a more consistent and commercially viable option.
The issue of poor domestic crude supply has resulted in significant challenges for local refineries, which are unable to operate at full capacity, limiting their potential contribution to the energy sector. The Crude Oil Refinery-owners Association of Nigeria confirmed that refineries turn to imports for survival and increased production capacity.
The association’s Publicity Secretary, Eche Idoko, stated that domestic refiners within the supply chain have been marginalized, adding that no allocation has been received under the Domestic Crude Oil Supply Obligation framework or through any other special arrangements. He urged President Bola Tinubu and his economic team to focus on supporting domestic producers, particularly modular refineries.
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission disclosed that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and seven other domestic refineries require 770,500 barrels of crude equivalent per day for processing in the first half of 2025. The commission emphasized that diverting crude oil meant for local refineries “is a violation of the law” and warned that it would deny export permits for crude oil cargoes intended for domestic refining.
The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria alleged that oil producers were diverting the daily 500,000 barrels of crude oil meant for local refineries. The association commended the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission for banning the export of crude oil allocated to local refineries.
The development highlights the challenges facing Nigeria’s oil industry, particularly the struggle to ensure sufficient crude supply to domestic refineries. The country’s continued reliance on imported petroleum products remains a significant concern, with refined and unrefined petroleum dominating the country’s import bill.
