RipplesMetrics… Nigeria's Petrol Imports: Where Did They Come From in 2023? - Ripples Nigeria
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RipplesMetrics… Nigeria’s Petrol Imports: Where Did They Come From in 2023?

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Several developments have questioned the federal government’s intention toward commencing oil production in the 650,000 barrels per day (BPD) Dangote refinery in Lagos in recent weeks. These developments are tied to the supply of crude oil to the refinery plant and the sale of refined products with regard to the wide exchange rate gap that exists between the naira and the dollar.

Some regulatory bodies have issued several statements that question the full capacity of the refinery, but according to Dangote and policy experts, this sends a wrong signal to the international markets and crude oil dealers, especially on the premise that Nigeria does not have a functioning refinery despite having crude oil as its essential minimal resource.

The ineffectiveness of these refineries means that Nigeria drills out crude oil and exports it to countries with functioning refineries, which are being sold back to the country in various refined petrochemicals. This whole process denies the country from making sufficient revenue from crude oil availability as most of its revenue is used to subsidise the cost of fuel when it is imported.

Another separate development was the controversial acquisition of a blending plant in Malta by Onado Plac, one of Nigeria’s independent oil and gas companies. This came after Dangote had inferred that some Nigerians, including officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) own and operate an oil blending plant in Malta.

However, Ripples Metics gathered data from the National Bureau of Statistics to identify countries where Nigeria imported petroleum from in 2023.

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What the data says

Nigeria’s annual total trade stood at N71.88 trillion as of the end of 2023. This is an import amounting to N35.92 trillion and exports of N35.96 trillion, representing a trade surplus of N400 billion, according to the National Bureau of Statistics report on Foreign Trade in Goods.

The data showed that 33.94 per cent of the total imports were mineral products (where refined petroleum products are included) amounting to N12.19 trillion. With crude oil taking a major share in Nigeria’s importation for the year, the data revealed that these refined products came from 20 countries.

The first five countries according to Ripples Metrc findings are, Belgium ($5.38 billion), India ($2.52 billion), Netherlands ($2.43 billion), Malta ($2.08 billion) and Russia ($1.1 billion).

Others are Saudi Arabia with $1.09 billion, South Korea with $1.03 billion, Norway with $758.3 million, Oman with $433.58 million, Turkey with $301.55 million, France with $288.06 million, USA with $280.14 million, Latvia with $212.23 million, Malaysia with $193.13 million and Spain with $177.21 million.

The countries with the least crude oil imports were Togo ($109.3 million), Tunisia ($104.35 million), Italy ($75.65 million), Brazil ($72.73 million), and Cyprus ($69.5 million).

Other African countries on the list include Côte D’Ivoire with $24.84 million, Egypt with $4.76 million, South Africa with $414,000, Ghana with $128,000, Niger with $122,000 and Namibia with $6,000.

Further checks showed that between April 2023 and March 2024, under President Bola Tinubu‘s first year in office, Nigeria generated a total trade value of N85.69 trillion, with an import value of N37.03 trillion and an export value of M48.65 trillion.

By: James Odunayo

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